Kitchen Crew 4-H enjoys fine dining experience

On Nov. 28, a group of children placed their orders with a server at Kent State University Hotel’s Nineteen10 restaurant, chatting eagerly and looking over a kid-friendly etiquette guide provided to them.

The group was part of Rootstown’s Kitchen Crew 4-H Club. Experiences like this aim to teach younger members certain life skills, like dining etiquette.

“4-H provides a lot of different things that nobody teaches now,” said Fran Pruchenski, head advisor to the Kitchen Crew 4-H Club.  

After the group finished their breakfast, Director of Sales and Marketing Ben Farmer led the Kitchen Crew on a tour of the hotel’s different reception and dining areas, as well as the kitchen facilities. 

Although 4-H competitions can include animal handling and husbandry, the Kitchen Crew focuses on the other aspects of 4-H. They have competed in categories ranging from robotics and engineering to budgeting and finance to cake decorating. 

Several Kitchen Crew members have gone on to compete in state-wide competitions, including Corey Galloway, who is currently studying engineering at the University of Akron and will age out of 4-H at the end of this year. He has competed in several robotics competitions.

“It’s definitely helped me understand the actual process [of robotics] more than any of my high school classes did,” Galloway said.

During the competition off-season, the Kitchen Crew also participates in service projects, like making “bundles” for kids at local hospitals, which can include plush toys or books.

“We also do community service projects. We bring coffee to the veterans, donate to animal shelters, get Valentine’s Day cards for the seniors,” Pruchenski said.