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Cottrell House Celebrates Diversity

Cottrell House youth honored Black History Month by celebrating all cultures and their achievements. Youth made this decision because they each recognized that they all have a culture and heritage that they are proud of and want to share. Youth worked together and agreed to prepare a meal from each of their cultures. An important part of the agreement was that everyone had to participate by cooking not only their culture’s food, but other cultures as well.


Stephanie Howell, GED teacher at Cottrell House, expressed her pride in the youth for deciding to honor all culture groups. She said, “We normally have a cooking class twice a month for youth. I taught youth how to search for recipes on different internet cooking sites. We started with making cookies and then we prepared food for Thanksgiving. I was surprised when the youth decided to celebrate Black History month by cooking foods from all different cultures of the youth at Cottrell House. This was something they decided and planned totally on their own. I am extremely proud of them. “


The youth created their menus. Foods that the youth cooked included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, greens, elotes, tacos, crab rangoons, pretzel salad and much more. All these food were made from scratch by youth. It was amazing to watch staff and youth working and learning together. Cottrell House PSA Richard Anderson said, “Learning different cultures is important for the youth. What we are doing today is teaching youth to respect one another and work together.”


Youth learned to cook foods that they have never cooked before. Youth J.D. said, “My dad taught me how to cook. I learned a lot on my own just experimenting. I cooked the crab rangoons and they are delicious! I actually googled that recipe and it came out perfect. This is my first time cooking rangoons and it is notthe last.”


Youth M.E. said that he likes cooking. “I am learning to cook salmon patties and fried chicken. I have ever cooked those things before. I didn’t know how to season chicken, but now I do. I can even fry it now. This is cool to learn.”


After the youth prepared the different foods, they then educated each other on the different cultures. They learned about the Black history, Hispanic history, Asian history and Caucasian history. They celebrated with food as they all discussed their family history.


Cottrell House Superintendent Marketa Johnson said, “I am so very, very proud of the youth. This is proof that they can do anything if they work together and are willing to learn from others. The youth not only cooked foods, but were taught how to shop and purchase food that would feed a lot of people while on a budget. With that being said, we have foods from all cultures and everyone is celebrated today.”
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