Summer Program helps indy teens learn valuable life skills

INDIANAPOLIS — A local organization is giving Marion County teens a hands-on experience to help them prepare for the future.

It’s called the Patachou Foundation's Food Fellowship .

“Students are getting a hands on experience working in a real kitchen, a restaurant and working on an urban farm,” Kate Franzman, Managing Director of The Patachou Foundation told WRTV on Tuesday.

The program started in 2020, and since its inception, more than 30 students have graduated the program.

WRTV

“You got to take a leap of faith. You got to try some new things every once in a while, because otherwise, you’re not going to have fun. You can’t lose if you don’t try but you can’t win either,” Urijah Armstrong, rising high school senior said.

The Food Fellowship is a paid career-training program for high schoolers that addresses the growing demand for workforce development programs.

The Patachou Foundation says students earn dual credit from Ivy Tech’s culinary and urban agriculture programs as well as ServSafe certification.

WRTV

“I want to own my own café, I want to make coffees for people,” Rising senior Rubi Casillas told WRTV.

She is one of 9 students from Arsenal Tech, Believe Circle City, and Purdue Polytechnic who are enrolled in the program this summer.

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“I don’t want to go down that path of getting in trouble, I know it might be hard work, but nothing is going to come easy,” Casillas concluded.

The Patachou Foundation offers Food Fellowship programming year-round, any high school student enrolled in Marion County is eligible.

If you are interested in applying, click here .