by Sara M. Feinberg
Last month I had the pleasure of accompanying Executive Chef Scott Miller to his presentation for Career Day at Greenleaf Elementary in Oakland. Without a doubt, Chef Miller was stellar and managed to capture the attention of all the students of each of the four classes visited...
This is no small feat, I must say if you consider that’s at least 20 kids to each class. Greenleaf, located in east Oakland, invited Chef Miller to share his story about how he came to be a chef, why he loves his work and any advice he could give to students about working in a kitchen.
Four twenty minute presentations were given to two kindergarten, one 1st grade and one 4th grade class. For the first two classes, Scott spoke in Spanish and showed the little ones what tools are often used in the kitchen and the noises they make. He brought props to show like his giant mixing bowl and enormous soup pot. It was evident the kids loved this as the “oooohhs” and “ahhhhhs” filled the room.
The 4th grade class, loaded with questions, wanted to know if he’d ever been on TV and what his favorite food is to cook. He shared with them his answers and also a little tidbit about how always working hard and doing your best is the key in anything one does in life.
The last class, 1st grade, was equally as interested as the others but the clear winning exhibition in each of the classes was Miller’s tomato-skin rose! A collective “wow” was exclaimed from all as he showed off his “mad skills” (as dubbed by the 4th graders).
Maybe it was the chocolate chip cookies given at the end, or maybe it is because everyone loves food, or maybe it was because Chef Miller has had lots of practice with kids (he’s the dad to two 10-year-old twin boys), but the fact is the day was a complete success. Miller was an interesting, well-organized speaker and I got the word that he was the favorite of all the presenters for each of the classes. The only complaint given, however, was that Chef Miller forgot to wear his big, tall chef hat! I guess there’s always next year…
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