Great Barrington — Rain could not stop hundreds of people from attending the Railroad Street Youth Project’s (RSYP) annual dinner, which was held at Memorial Field on Saturday, May 20.
According to its website, the nonprofit organization was created in 2000 to empower young people by supporting youth-inspired projects that promote responsibility, self-worth, and intergenerational communication. The organization operates several youth-oriented programs, including various apprenticeships, a skate park, a Youth Operational Board, Sexual Health Education programs, Q-Club weekly meetings for LGBTQIA+, and the Railroad Street Youth Student Empowerment program (RYSE).
But on May 20, the spotlight was on RSYP’s Culinary Arts Apprenticeship Program, which was launched in 2006 for teenagers who are interested in the culinary field.
The apprenticeship is led by mentors and chefs who are part of the culinary field. This year, the apprenticeship was led by Zee Vassos from Number Ten Restaurant, Fabian Dominguez from Rose’s Restaurant, Megan Kitsock of Supreme Soft Serve, and Dan Smith from John Andrews Farmhouse Restaurant.
The nine apprentice chefs, Donnalee D’Ambrosi, Reece Faggioni, Robbie Germino, Lisa Pantoja, Ely Richards, Blaise Twing, Dana Sanchez, Luke Poly, and Anwesha Saha, prepared a four-course meal for attendees. The five-course meal consisted of a “Berkshire Butter Lettuce Salad” consisting of spring herb goat cheese and pickled rhubarb; a risotto consisting of wild ramps, maitake, and oyster mushrooms; a smoked beef brisket consisting of potato gratin and grilled local asparagus in a bordelaise sauce; and a soft serve ice cream dessert.
“I think a program like this is important because we live in an area where, for a lot of young people, they don’t know what they should do with their lives,” Organization Director of Development Tiffany Riva said. “College isn’t always the best option for everybody. There are so many other choices, and learning about a professional kitchen and how to cook sets you up to maybe just be a great home chef or go on to work in the culinary industry.”
“A program like this is a really good opportunity for young people to learn skills that will add to their expertise,” organization Director of Youth Empowerment and Advocacy Regina East said. “It’s also fun to learn to cook because it gives them empowerment, autonomy, and other skills.”
Organization Deputy Director Sabrina Allard said that cooking is not just a marketable skill that can be used for someone’s career, but it is also a lifelong skill. “We hear a lot about young people feeling empowered after they take this program,” Allard said. “They learn the basics of cooking from this program, which are skills that they take with them for their whole lives. RSYP is a place that empowers young people through our programs. These are all free programs, so you get to try something new without having to have that investment in it and get to do something you may not have done before or may not have wanted to do before.”
The event was also a way to honor Monument Mountain Regional High School student Avery Carr. Carr, a junior at the school, has been awarded this year’s Railroad Street Youth Student Empowerment (RYSE) $20,000 annual scholarship.
The program itself provides an opportunity for students to explore options after high school, and the scholarship can be used over the next four years to assist with college tuition, a focused curriculum for a gap year, or a GED program.
Carr is interested in becoming a food chemist or a culinary instructor for a future career. “I’m really proud that I’ve been able to be part of the programs at RYSP,” Carr said. “Through their programs, it has made me feel the most connected to my community that I ever have.”
RSYP Program Coordinator Zinc Estime created the RYSE program in 2017 and took part in the organization’s programs as a youth. “I wanted to make sure that we had a program that had multiple panels of different generations, both young and old, talking to each other to help the youth of this community out with their success,” Estime said. “There’s not one path to success because success is really based on the individual. You have to be able to be aware of your own skills, and what you can offer is essential to one’s growth. RYSP has been essential to my growth because, in many ways, I felt like I was part of a community that didn’t really prioritize youth. I often felt that I was isolated, especially being a person of color, and I didn’t know of a place to go that would listen to me and offer resources to me. I feel that RYSP was the place that offered me support, opportunities, programs, and multiple avenues of resources.”
For more information about the Railroad Street Youth Project, go to its website.
