Alternative schools are essentially specialized educational environments that place a great deal of emphasis on small classrooms, high teacher-to-student ratios, individualized instruction, noncompetitive performance assessments, and less structured classrooms (Raywid 1983). The purpose of these schools is to provide academic instruction to students expelled or suspended for disruptive behavior or mental or health issues, or who are unable to succeed in the mainstream school environment (Ingersoll and Leboeuf 1997).While there is a great degree of variation among alternative schools, research demonstrates that the schools that succeed with this population of youth typically have Curriculum-based on real-life learning (Coffee and Pestridge 2001) Bartlett Educational Center in Erlanger/Elsmere School District is an Alternative school. This is the fifth year that 4-H is partnering with the School Counselor to provide Real Life Learning through Cooking Classes. 4-H Cooking program meets three to four times a month and teaches the youth with basic cooking skills gradually working toward more complicated cooking skills. All the students were able to follow a recipe, measure and create breakfast, lunch and dinner. The youth were exposed to a world of different cuisine. This year 2 youth were returning and 6 youth were new to the school.  90% of the youth had never cooked from a recipe. 100% said they learned new skills they would use in the future. Two youth that graduated last year let me know that the cooking class was the best and most useful class and they learned skills they were going to use as they started their adult journey.