Cooking Class Meets:
Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
777 Mooring Line Drive
Naples, FL 34102
Current session: Jan. 8 through Feb. 12
Upcoming sessions: Feb. 26 through April 1; April 15 through May 20
About the Cooking Class:
Since 2009, the STARability Foundation has been offering Life Skills Classes to its participants. These classes have helped to promote independence and teach important life skills.
STARability offers cooking classes on Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in six-week sessions, with one week off in between sessions, at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. The instructor teaches health and nutrition along with how to create tasty and healthy meals. The fee for each six-week session is $90. Those who do not want to sign up for the entire six-week sessions are welcome to sign up on a weekly basis for $15 per class. Sign up by calling the office at 239.594.9007 or emailing Program Coordinator Susan Ford at susan@STARability.org.
The class is run by instructor Sandra Smith in season and by rotating volunteers during the summer.
Meet Our In-Season Instructor, Sandra!
Sandra Smith is a licensed social worker who has generously donated her time to STARability Foundation since moving part-time to Florida in 2008. Sandra, who has an M.S.W. from Catholic University, worked and taught at several health facilities and universities in the Washington, D.C., area, and had a private practice for 10 years. After retiring in 2003, Sandra volunteered at Chesapeake Hospice, the Department of Aging in Annapolis, Maryland, and the Providence Center for adults iwth developmental disabilities.
Sandra conducts Life Skills workshops for four months every year for STARability members. Her students adore her and attend the classes year after year! She has taught cooking, health and nutrition, financial literacy, personal safety and other topics. In addition to teaching the weekly four-hour class, Sandra develops curriculum and does all the preparation for each class. According to Sandra, the life skills classes have been a wonderful program for her to employ her group skills and love of this population. “The students and their parents/caregivers have enriched my life beyond what I can express,” Sandra said.
“There has been significant growth with all of the regular students, and I am sure the program, along with various STARability events, is a factor. It is like witnessing the students’ maturity levels rise all in a healthy, positive way. So very inspiring.”
