Welcome back to my sixth week of working with the CUCE-NYC CHAT Initiative, when Teen Training Week is finally taking place! Due to some clearance issues, only the teens from PAL Harlem—Nathaniel and Folarin—showed up this Monday, so Eda and I only demonstrated lesson 1 and pushed back the other lessons to accommodate the absent teens. Fortunately, as it turns out, Nathaniel has had previous experience working as a teen teacher back in the 2021 CHAT initiative, so he was able to provide guidance to the other teens who showed up on Tuesday—Nakaiya from Pathways and Jamal from Polo Grounds. 

With a full class, Eda and I taught lessons two to four, which required more preparation than we had anticipated granted that we had to wash the ingredients for all three lessons, then clean up the utensils after making each recipe. Nevertheless, we were able to get back on track with our schedule, with Eda and I teaching lessons five and six, then Folarin doing his lesson 1 teachback on Wednesday. For his first time doing teachbacks—though daunted—he seemed to have incredible knowledge about the CHFFF curriculum! However, Wiselene and Jackie (who joined us through Zoom) also suggested that he should focus on expanding his energy and remember to complete logistical activities like introducing himself and the CHFFF class, forming ground rules, and simulating passing out pre-surveys for the first lesson. Then on Thursday, Juan, Monica, and Natalia joined Nakaiya and Jamal’s teachbacks of lessons two to four, and gave positive feedback on their energy and knowledge, despite how many lessons they had to go through! Finally on Friday, Nathaniel and Folarin demonstrated the teachbacks for lessons five and six, and they now seemed comfortable in both leading the class and the curriculum. Additionally, over the course of reviewing and teaching the CHFFF curriculum, the teens offered insightful suggestions as to how we could improve it—for instance, we could replace the ingredients that are obscure in gentrified, poorer neighborhoods (e.g. tahini) or even plan a field trip to the local grocery store to teach children how to choose products based on the nutrition facts labels and price. Overall, I am looking forward to seeing how our lessons will impact the youths at each PAL site and how we can further develop the CHAT initiative!