MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Reno County-based summer program is helping middle school students develop lifelong cooking and nutrition skills while addressing food insecurity in the community.
Kitchen Hero Academy, founded by occupational therapist Dr. Megan Bartley in 2021, is a 10-week “garden-to-table” program designed for USD 308 middle school students. The initiative blends hands-on cooking instruction, nutrition education and field experiences aimed at connecting youth with their food sources and improving long-term health outcomes.
Bartley said the program was developed through her doctoral research, which identified higher-than-average food insecurity rates in Reno County. She designed the academy using an occupational therapy framework to build practical life skills and encourage healthier food choices at a critical developmental stage.
“Middle schoolers are a key population for shaping long-term habits,” Bartley said, noting the program focuses not only on how to cook, but also on understanding the nutritional value of foods and their impact on the body.
Participants meet twice a week for sessions lasting more than four hours, where they engage in a variety of activities including gardening, meal preparation, nutrition lessons and skill-building exercises. Students grow produce in a community garden, harvest ingredients and use them to prepare meals the same day.
The curriculum also incorporates field trips to local farms, grocery stores and other food-related sites, reinforcing the “farm-to-table” concept and helping students better understand where their food comes from.
Nutrition education is a central component of the program, with an emphasis on preventing long-term chronic illness by encouraging healthier eating habits early in life. Bartley said students often show measurable improvements in their willingness to try new foods by the end of the program, based on pre- and post-assessments.
The program culminates in a family celebration dinner, where students prepare and serve a multi-course meal for guests. Graduates also receive cooking utensils and a cookbook featuring recipes learned during the course, helping reinforce skills at home.
Kitchen Hero Academy typically serves about 10 students each summer and is currently nearing capacity for the upcoming session, which begins the week of Memorial Day.
In addition to the core program, Bartley is working to expand the initiative through a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Hutchinson. The collaboration will introduce a condensed version of the curriculum to reach more students in the community.
Bartley said her long-term goal is to grow the program beyond Reno County, eventually expanding statewide, nationally and even internationally.
“This is about equipping kids with skills they can carry for a lifetime,” she said.
Families interested in enrolling can contact Kitchen Hero Academy through its Facebook page or by email.