Education Health & Science
Fractions, flavors, ‘culinary courage’ for kids
By Javon Huynh
Surrounded by books, students at P.S. 191 Paul Robeson School in Crown Heights found themselves in a library transformed into a makeshift cooking classroom. Tables were covered with cutting boards, measuring cups and bowls of vegetables. A smart board displayed the day’s lesson, “Mediterranean Rainbow Chickpea Crunch Bowls.”
“Whether they put me in the library or the basement, I’m going to find a way to teach these kids no matter what,” chef and culinary educator Justin Simmons said.
When students needed help, they called out, “Chef J,” and Simmons moved from table to table, guiding students through the day’s lesson and encouraging them to think through each step before picking up a knife or measuring spoon. Before they began preparing the recipe, he quizzed students on measurements and ingredients.
A decade ago, Simmons worked as a restaurant sous chef. Today, the Brooklyn-based educator is founder and CEO of JS Culinary Group and leads food education programs in New York City public schools, using cooking as a tool to teach life skills, nutrition and confidence.
“I started as a health educator,” Simmons said, reflecting on his early work in youth programming and wellness education. “As I was studying, I really got into health and food and wellness.”
That path eventually led him into professional kitchens, including Red Rooster in Harlem, while continuing work in nutrition and health education. But the demands of restaurant life, combined with what he saw in community health settings, pushed him to reconsider his direction.
“I was preaching, but I wasn’t living the actual teaching that I was giving out,” Simmons said. “I had to make a change.”
Now, he uses cooking classrooms to teach more than recipes. Students learn measurement, sequencing and problem-solving through hands-on instruction.
Before students started cooking, Simmons led them through a series of math challenges. Using a measurement conversion chart displayed on the smart board, students raised their hands to answer questions about teaspoons, tablespoons and fractions, applying concepts they had learned earlier in the week.
“When you look at a recipe, sometimes recipes are written correctly and some aren’t,” Simmons said. “You have to break a complex problem down to solve this.”
At P.S. 191, educators say the program reinforces academic lessons in a way traditional instruction often cannot.
Named after Paul Robeson, the acclaimed singer, actor, athlete and civil rights activist, the school emphasizes academics alongside social responsibility and cultural awareness, values Principal Andy Jones Duncan said align closely with Simmons’ approach to culinary education.
“It doesn’t really come together in any other place in the building other than in a class like this,” Duncan said, noting that students use fractions and measurements while preparing recipes and also engage with history, geography and nutrition through discussions about food and culture.
Food, Duncan said, becomes a way to connect classroom subjects to everyday life.
“Food tells a story,” she said. “It tells the story of the people who have come before you. And then you can also tell your story.”
That lesson extended to the day’s Mediterranean-themed recipe. Simmons discussed ingredients such as feta cheese, explaining its connection to Greek cuisine while encouraging students to think about how food reflects culture, geography and history.
Duncan said the program also gives students exposure to real-world skills and careers they might not otherwise encounter.
“When in their life would they come face to face and experience a private chef?” she said. “Most of us never do. But this opportunity presents itself for them.”
The program is funded through a New York City Department of Education food and nutrition grant, and limited funding and space restrict how many students can participate. Duncan said the school is co-located, meaning spaces like the library serve multiple purposes throughout the day.
A representative from the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the department, said food education is expanding across the city as part of broader efforts to connect students with healthier eating habits.
“We want teachers to talk to students about healthy eating,” the representative said. “We try to build communities with families and neighborhoods.”
The representative said food education lessons help students better understand the foods served in school cafeterias and encourage them to make healthier choices at home.
For students, the lessons show up in small but meaningful ways.
A fourth-grade student said the class helped connect cooking to concepts learned in the classroom.
“Something I learned is to cook by using math, like using fractions and wholes and halves,” the student said.
Another fourth-grade student described learning how to measure ingredients correctly while preparing the day’s recipe.
“At first I didn’t know what to measure, and then he showed me what to use and how much to use,” the student said.
Bruce Wright, a foster grandparent volunteer who assists fourth-grade teachers, said students have become increasingly engaged as the program has continued.
“At first it was a little hectic,” Wright said. “But as they kept coming, they were more engaged.”
He said students who were once hesitant are now more willing to try new foods, including vegetables they previously avoided.
“It’s important that they learn nutrition, what’s good for you,” Wright said. “Nowadays everything is sugar, candy, cookies, potato chips. This is a good way to teach them nourishment and nutrition and how to eat right.”
Simmons describes that growth as building “culinary courage,” encouraging students to try unfamiliar foods and develop confidence in the kitchen.
At P.S. 191, educators say that confidence is already showing results. Students are increasingly choosing vegetables such as bell peppers, cucumbers and chickpeas after participating in cooking lessons.
“They really are diversifying their plate,” Duncan said. “That’s ultimately what the goal of this was.”
As students gathered around the table to taste the salad they prepared, teachers joined them, filling plates and discussing flavors.
Earlier in the lesson, some students needed help measuring ingredients, cutting vegetables and following the recipe. Now they compared notes on the finished dish, passing bowls around the table and discussing what they might make at home.
The lesson was about food, but it also offered something harder to measure: confidence.