Malek Thomas meets the tears in his students’ eyes with laughter and a warm smile.
He’s not a cruel man, but rather a proud teacher as he watches the teens chop fragrant onions, fresh carrots and whole chicken breasts on a recent night during one of his culinary classes.
Thomas, 20, serves as the cooking instructor for the youth program department at United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA’s Oppenheim Center for the Arts, housed at 1004 Jackson St. in West Scranton.
Once a week, the South Scranton resident devotes a night to the group of kids, ages 13 and up, who learn knife skills, cooking techniques and a new recipe in the industrial kitchen space. The work is practical, fun and educational for all involved, but for Thomas, it’s also a rewarding capstone to his own involvement with UNC.
Not long ago, he was one of the youths who benefited from the free programs that immerse area teens in the arts.
Thomas moved to Scranton from Brooklyn, New York, 10 years ago with his family. An outgoing kid at heart who turned shy once he was placed in a new town and school, he joined UNC after his mother noticed a flier for a youth photography class when she dropped off her youngest son for daycare. She encouraged 10-year-old Malek to sign up to meet other kids and learn new skills.
“I didn’t think I’d be good,” Thomas admitted. “At first, I took pictures of just everything. As the years progressed, I learned to focus and point at what would be better.”
The culture and camaraderie were natural fits for him, and he expanded his interests to other classes, including video production, poetry, theater and Leaders In Training.
Thomas blossomed in the program, where he went on to create scenery and take pictures for stage productions, earn roles in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Willy Wonka,” and recruit schoolmates for the groups.
He honed talents that today support his success at Keystone College, where he is close to completing his associate degree in culinary arts and will continue to study for his bachelor’s degree in hospitality management in the coming semesters.
“Theater helped me with speech class in college,” Thomas said. “I learned to project myself and talk with others.
“It occupies you, you meet people, and get more experience in things,” he added. “Everyone is real friendly, too. You get close to your mentor.”
This enthusiasm and belief in the system made Thomas an ideal candidate for the teaching job after he aged out of the program and gained his own experience in his field, including a trip to France to study. When he returned to UNC to visit Angel Atell, director of community youth, the path to bringing him back into the fold seemed clear.
“Malek was an interesting teenager who was involved in a lot,” Atell said. “He was very reliable and responsible.
“When he came to visit, I knew it was a perfect fit,” she added. “I also thought it would be nice for some of the kids to see a former student who passed through. Some of the kids who have been here the longest remember him, and relate to him on a different level. I see them being more committed. For me, personally, I just like seeing Malek on that side.”
The opportunity furthers his career and aspirations, she said, and eventually he can use his time in the kitchen classroom as an internship for credit.
“It’s a growth and learning experience for him as well,” Atell said. “His ideas are still fresh. He can teach something he just learned last week, even if he hasn’t mastered it yet. He can master it with the group.”
Teaches with twist
On this recent night, Thomas decided to challenge himself and the kids by developing a recipe on the fly based on whatever was available in the cupboards of UNC’s kitchen.
“It’s how I like to cook,” Thomas said. “Whatever we have, I put my twist on it.”
Half a dozen boys and girls of different ages and ethnicities gathered around the demonstration table as their teacher doled out tasks and ingredients. In past weeks, Thomas taught them to bake, saute, pan fry and boil, resulting in gourmet dishes such as stuffed chicken breast with Hollandaise sauce.
For this “kitchen sink” experiment, the young chefs dabbled with Ramen noodles, instant rice, raw potatoes and other bits from the cabinets.
Zoe Castillo, 14, acts as a sort of sous chef for Thomas, who considers her like a little sister and gives her extra responsibilities as his pseudo-assistant.
The Scranton High School freshman looks up to her teacher, literally and figuratively, as the 6-foot, 5-inch cook towers over everyone else in the kitchen. But Zoe also respects his return to UNC as a volunteer, especially as he works on his own education and stays employed at Fresh Food Co. in University of Scranton’s DeNaples Center.
“I think it’s very great and very honorable that he’s helping out where he used to go,” Zoe said. “I feel like he’s a reliable person. He’s interesting.”
In addition to cooking, UNC offers a wide range of arts instruction for teens, all of which is free. The center even assists with transportation for those who need it.
A tour of the Oppenheim Center revealed a diverse space designed to engage all interests with real equipment and professional leadership. The building’s second floor hosts the kitchen, as well as a pottery and ceramics room with a real kiln that teens, families and intergenerational classes utilize.
It also holds a small stage for open mics and a large dance studio, where ballet, hip-hop and mixed-style classes eventually will lead to quarterly public performances.
A painting room where teen artists color canvases and create mosaics for a garden walkway at St. Joseph’s Center can be found next to the kitchen.
A small portrait studio is under development beyond that. There, youth photographers learn camerawork and printing, which they use to offer family or senior portraits to folks who can’t afford professional studios. They also attend community events and capture images for other nonprofits.
Upstairs on the third floor, a tutoring and study area features computer stations, and bookcases house a free library of books to take home. A permanent art display case remains in its infancy, although Atell said she hopes to see it filled with original pieces made by students in-house in the months to come.
She also showed off a recording studio that boasts DJ turntables, musical instruments, microphones and a vocal shield, which is unique in that it is also open for use by youngsters older than 18 and those who have dropped out, too.
“It’s for kids falling through the cracks, not involved in other things or in school, who are interested in this,” she said.
She plans to build a vocal booth and broadcast from the center in the future, and hopes to create beneficial advertisements for other nonprofits in the studio.
Past this room is a recreation space with pool and foosball tables, where kids gather between youth program classes or after school.
About 70 to 80 teens come through the Oppenheim in a week, Atell estimated, but “not as many as I would like.”
With success stories like Thomas, she believes she can fix that. The pair of them and other staff in the youth programs act as mentors of sorts, and often advocate on behalf of their students, who face family problems and bullying, among other normal, teen issues.
“It’s a real confidence booster,” Atell said of the program. “It helps you open up to your peers and gives you an alternative to being on the street.”
“It helped me be outgoing and branch off with other things,” Thomas said. “It was mentors here that helped me pick my major and career.”