Community Classroom Kitchen - Community Classroom Project

Community Classroom Kitchen Initiative

Using Kitchen Skills to Teach Culinary Lessons & Lessons for Life

Community Classroom Kitchen (CCK) brings life skills into the kitchen and kitchen skills into life and is tapping into South Florida’s top culinary talent for programming, expertise and collective creativity.

CCK is committed to gathering families and neighbors together around a healthy dinner table, and that starts with training a culinary workforce that is passionate and equipped for health and success. Inspiring young adults to become food entrepreneurs is what we do. By connecting chefs and culinary experts with those who are eager to learn, we are able to co-create the future of the vital industry.

Space of Mind and Community Classroom share a campus in downtown Delray Beach. A portion of the proceeds from select Space of Mind programs & classes support the Community Classroom Project, which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing stress through creativity.

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Restaurant Workforce Competition for Teens & Young Adults.

Earn Your Spot in Our Summer & Fall Culinary Training Programs

Community Classroom Kitchen, together with South Florida’s top chefs, culinary instructors, food entrepreneurs, restaurant groups and influencers, and in partnership with the Palm Beach County School District, has developed a pilot hospitality program to train a workforce of inspired young foodies to find their passion and purpose in the culinary space. CCK is a community-based solution for maximizing business potential through human potential for non-traditional, hands-on learners.

We will be selecting two cohorts of 15 students each for:

Summer Program • June 23rd – August 2nd, 2025

This pilot program is funded by Children’s Services Council and Community Classroom Project’s JP Kline Culinary Arts Scholarship Fund. Merit and need-based scholarships will be awarded.

Saturday, March 8, 2025 • 9am-3pm • Ages 14-18

The Hub at Space of Mind • 101 NW 1st Ave. • Delray Beach, FL 33444

Learn More

All CCK programming connects participants from varied socio-economic backgrounds, neighborhoods, and cultures, allowing everyone to learn – and be nourished – together.

CCK Programs include:

• Cooking classes, workshops and parties

• Dinners & events

• Full production set for production of food-related media

• Front and back-of-the-house workforce training for teens and young adults

• Lending library for students and chefs

• Commissary and test kitchen for chefs and young food entrepreneurs

• One-For-One Meal Box Project

• Culinary Industry Think Tank for professionals

Expanding access to culinary education

CCK is fueled by a passionate group of chefs, culinary instructors, food entrepreneurs, educators, mental health providers and community leaders who are coming together to provide industry-changing programming that will expand access to culinary education.

Launched via lockdown

The Community Classroom Kitchen was launched during Covid-19’s lockdown when Founder, Ali Kaufman, and Founding Chef, Blake Malatesta, sought to solve a local food crisis and donated one meal box to a family in need for each meal box sold.

CCK is currently building a commercial teaching kitchen and an entrepreneurial test kitchen on the Space of Mind downtown Delray Beach campus. CCK will be open for full cooking classes, workshops, parties and events in Fall 2024.