After years of looking for help dealing with her son’s aggressive mood swings and ADD, Jaimie McClare never would have guessed that cooking classes were the answer. A little over a year ago, with tears rolling down her cheeks and still wearing her pyjama pants, Jaimie went to St. Luke School and demanded that it find her son, Carter, some help.
This lead to Carter being referred to TRIP (The Regina Intersectoral Partnership). TRIP is an organization here in Regina that helps at risk-kids deal with their issues in a positive way.
“The goal was to try and get [Carter] reengaged with academics but to also connect him with things that he could enjoy and give him opportunity to try something different,” said Sarah Fuchs, a support worker with TRIP.
The individual and group activities the support workers take these kids to are very important, said Fuchs. But according to McClare the overall positivity displayed by everyone at TRIP is just as important, especially in Carter’s case. “I don’t even think he realizes the damage that’s done being told ‘you can do better,’ ‘you need to try harder’ when he is trying. And with TRIP it’s the complete opposite, so all he hears from those people is positive things, so I think it’s super important,” she said.
With dedicated workers and positivity TRIP is showing these kids how to succeed in life. In Carter’s case his biggest success comes in the form of the cooking classes which he not only enjoys, and is excited about, but also excels at. When asked why he likes his cooking classes so much Carter joked, “I like to eat,” before going on to say he likes meeting new people and being able to cook his own food.
All his hard work in class is paying off for Carter too, in the form of a job opportunity with his cooking instructor Krystle Hagen, who owns The Rolling Pin, where she says he can help with some of their bigger catering jobs, have some fun cooking, and even make a little money on the side.