Too many cooks in the kitchen? The more the merrier. 

That was the vision when a year ago a classroom kitchen opened on the third floor of the Clark Center for Science & Mathematics.  

The kitchen is living up to that vision, and it is becoming a busy place. In just the week of September 21, students helped to extract honey from the school beehives on Sunday, a Community Engagement group baked cookies for a local shelter and soup kitchen on Monday, and a student club made and enjoyed matcha drinks on Wednesday evening. 

More than a dozen students participated in the honey project. They helped to extract about six gallons of honey, which translates to between 60 and 70 pounds, from the school hives.  

Sarah Griggs, an associate director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, said the kitchen “is a dream come true,” and the size of the facility allows more students to be involved in the honey-making operation at one time. A local longtime keeper of bees and maker of honey, Jack Grimshaw, was there to help with the honey extraction. He volunteered his time and brought all of his equipment into the kitchen for use. “He is such a warm, knowledgeable person who goes out of his way to help us,” Sarah said. 

The individual cells of a honeycomb are capped in a wax produced by the bees. The wax capping is removed with a heated tool, and the frames of the hives are placed vertically in an electronic extractor, which spins to shake free the honey. The honey is strained and then must sit for a few days to rid itself of air bubbles. Then it can be bottled.  

Sarah said she hopes the students gained greater appreciation of where food comes from by taking part in the extraction. “Personally, when I started doing this work, I had not given a lot of thought into all of the effort and time that goes into it — for the bees themselves and for the process of extracting it and going through the steps before it is bottled. I also hope this enhances our relationship with our local community and sense of place here on campus — an appreciation for the fact it was produced right here.” 

On the day after the honey extraction,  a new program called Pelican Pantry held its first activity — baking cookies — in the kitchen. The program, said Community Engagement Director Heather Henderson, is designed “to feed our neighbors.”  

Students, led by senior Shamyra Glenn, the student organizer of the Pelican Pantry; and faculty member Maria Arroyo-Contreras of the Modern & Classical Languages Department made 90 chocolate chip cookies at the group’s first session. The baked goods they make this term will go to ImmaCare Inc., in Hartford, which works to eliminate homelessness in the Hartford region; and Enfield Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen, which serves the surrounding community by providing meals seven days a week.  

Shamyra has been involved with the Community Engagement program since her freshman year. This new program — Pelican Pantry — is the type that seems baked into her DNA.  

“I was excited about the chance to help launch and lead a new effort,” she said. “I also have a passion for cooking and baking, and more importantly, I find deep fulfillment in helping provide meals to those in need. This kind of outreach work is something I’ve been involved in through my church as well— preparing and distributing holiday meals to underserved communities.” This summer Shamyra did a Norton Fellowship, distributing 60 care packages for parents of infants in the local community through the church she attends in Bloomfield, Conn. The care packages contained such items as diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, and baby blankets.  

The Matcha Club also has enjoyed using Clark Kitchen, where the club gathered on the evening of September 24 to create drinks flavored with matcha, a powder made from ground green tea leaves. 

Liz Hoiberg, hired this year as the school dietitian, is planning activities in the kitchen involving snacks and meals for students, according to Jessica Matzkin, the director of well-being. A faculty and staff cooking series is expected to start in November.  

When the kitchen opened last fall, Marley Matlack, the Christopher H. Lutz Director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, envisioned it as a busy place. She said at the time, “Food is such an amazing vehicle, just a great entry point to open students’ eyes to different cultures, different stories, different concepts.” 

Eyes have been opened. Taste buds have been awakened. Hands-on lessons learned.  And more to come.