Hardy Vieux, co-chair of the Duke Club of Washington's PIE project, watches children become chefs. Photo credit: JayMallinPhotos

Durham, NC - Twenty-four students learned how to prepare healthy meals during a morning cooking class at Rock Creek Restaurant in Washington, D.C., on March 7. The students were from the three DC-area partner schools adopted by Partnership in Education (PIE), a Duke Club of Washington (DCW) award-winning community service program.

The makeshift chefs were assisted by alumni club volunteers, who worked with pairs of students, who were divided into two groups. One worked with the restaurant's chef on a healthy, cost-friendly meal they could easily make at home, and the other group worked with the pastry chef on a similar dessert. The chefs emphasized the importance of nutritious foods and good eating habits.

After a student from each group discussed what they made and how they made it, everyone was seated in the restaurant's dining room to be served the meals they had prepared by the restaurant's wait staff. There was enough food to take home for bragging rights, along with recipe cards.

The restaurant's owners, Duke alumni Judy Hammerschmidt '76 and Tom Williams '77, provided all the ingredients, the services of their chefs, and take-out containers and bags. DCW vice president Loree Lipstein '03 and Hardy Vieux '93, PIE co-chairs, also served as chefs' assistants.

Pictured below, PIE children bring a festive spirit to their pizza designs.

(Photos by Jay MallinPhotos.)