Cooking Classes will empower healthy eating and family bonding 

Newtown, Sarasota, Florida

Star Lab is offering cooking classes for parents this summer! The four-session course will provide recipes, ingredients, kitchen tools, and lessons in how to cook healthy and delicious meals. Head of School, Alison Rini says, “We are thrilled to pilot this program, helping busy families learn to fit cooking into their hectic schedules.” 

A microschool in Newtown, Star Lab provides customized learning for every child. “Everyone is unique, but we have more in common than we know,” says Rini. “Every family of young children is under stress, pressed for time, and needs to eat! If we can offer ways to combine family time with daily needs by making cooking healthy and fun, we will increase their quality of life.”

A $15,000 grant to support the program was made possible by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Allen Wirtz Nobbe and Jo Bowen Nobbe Fund and Two-Generation Approach Fund. 

Danette Williams, Star Lab’s beloved caterer, promises: “Parents will learn family-friendly recipes for food their children will actually want to eat!” 

The cooking classes are limited to families whose children are enrolled at Star Lab. However, as enrollment is ongoing throughout the spring, the school is happy to include newly enrolled families as well to join in the food and fellowship. 

The cooking series will run for 4 sessions on Friday evenings this summer. Each session will demonstrate a recipe and provide the tools and ingredients families need in order to follow along with Danette. After the demonstration, Danette will serve the completed meal to all the families and their children. Participants will be able to keep their own sets of tools and prepped ingredients so that they can make the meal again at home another day. The sessions will provide opportunities for adult conversation and connection. Childcare is included.

Star Lab is a private microschool that students attend for free using state scholarships. The school’s mission is to provide high levels of both learning and joy, and to incorporate workshops for parents and guardians that complement the hands-on academics and personalized learning the school provides to its students. 

About Star Lab: Star Lab is a private elementary school, operating in the Newtown neighborhood of Sarasota, dedicated to providing high levels of both learning and joy for children, teachers, and families. Star Lab offers a personalized pace of academics combined with movement and play to help all students achieve at high levels. Families are welcome throughout the day and form a true partnership with staff to support students in all areas of their lives. For more information, visit www.starlab.world or call (941) 313-2423.

About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of

Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning

Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make

a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $605 million in more than 1,600 charitable

funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $44.7 million last

year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal

welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to

grant $542 million to nonprofits in our community thanks to the generosity of charitable

individuals, families and businesses. For more information, visit cfsrasota.org or call

941-955-3000.

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