VET Article

Chefs who transition into complementary Careers after leaving a Normal Commercial Kitchen

Making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children

After a varied career that included being a personal cook for the Governor of Jersey in the Channel Islands, cheffing at resorts and clubs, and catering for the Commonwealth Games, the idea of working with children popped into Sarah Maric’s mind. She retrained as a teacher and parlayed her chef skills into a role in high schools. She’s working now at Copperfield College in Delahey in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs, teaching cooking to high school kids who often haven’t had many advantages in life.

The Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses run alongside the standard secondary school curriculum, giving students a head start in trades. Sarah finds it enormously satisfying. “You can make a difference in their lives,” she says. “In some ways, teaching is the same as being in the kitchen. Being a chef is quite altruistic: you give something of yourself every time you plate up a dish. Working with young people, you have to put in a lot of energy, passion and enthusiasm or you can’t engage them. You have to give a bit of yourself every day. You get a lot back as well. It keeps you engaged.”

Sarah loves using her industry connections to inspire her students. “A lot of these young people have never been to a quality restaurant or venue in the city. I’ve arranged placements for them in nurturing environments so they get in-depth experience of what the industry can be. They are so excited. They get incredible energy from being in a real-world kitchen.”

Her own varied experience is an advertisement for hospitality in itself. “The industry is hugely diverse, you can work anywhere in the world and there are so many pathways,” she says. “I tell the kids, ‘keep your mind open, see what’s around you and don’t be scared to challenge yourself and take the leap’.”

Link to full article: https://aplusinsights.com.au/articles/forks-in-the-road

Ms Sarah Maric