SMART COOKIES

Bakery Employee Training Center and opened Sunflower Bakeshop in March 2020, just before COVID hit. With a new production kitchen, a dedicated training kitchen, classroom space, offices, and a small retail bakeshop where Sunflower’s Pastry Arts students receive customer service training, the new space was ready to take on students.

Then we all know what happened. The pandemic. But the founders used the shutdown to pilot a new training program, Hospitality. Tick tells me, “We now have two major training programs, Pastry Arts and Hospitality. Our strategic three-year plan is to grow our programs to train more students with learning differences.” In addition to baking and pastry art, the new Hospitality program trains students in customer service, front of house, food handling, and order filling.

In their Pastry Arts program, they start with all students doing the same tasks at the same time in the same order. In learning phases two and three, students begin to work on different assignments. They have varied schedules, multiple tasks, and time constraints. Tick reminds me, “We do everything to prepare them for work in a competitive employment venue.”

Sunflower even has a job coach and offers job services which teach students how to search for employment, write resumes, and interview. And, because they know their students so deeply, they’re really good at job matching. “We look at the job requirements and the work environment to match the right student with the best opportunity,” Tick assures me.

The dedicated Sunflower team doesn’t lose touch with their students once they’re gainfully employed. They reach out on a regular basis and spend a lot of time educating their 60+ employer partners. “A lot happens on the employer side,” Tick states. “They may not be familiar with working with employees that have different learning styles. However, it’s really a win-win. Our students are more dependable than many other entry-level workers. They’re happy to be part of the team, happy to be contributing members of society. Dependability and loyalty are huge factors in our students’ success.”

In June 2020, Sunflower moved the Cafe Employment Training Program to their new Employee Training Center in Rockville and renamed it their Hospitality Employment Training Program. Sunflower also incorporated bread baking into its Pastry Arts curriculum in the summer of 2020 and began selling challah and rolls. In February 2021, Sunflower started its shipping program with shipments of hamantaschen nationwide for the holiday of Purim. “We have redefined hamantaschen,” Tick proudly announces.

“The Sunflower experience is transformational,” she beams, “Students come in and they don’t leave as the same people. The growth, self-confidence, and selfesteem are life changing.” ♦

Check out Sunflower Bakery for pick-up, delivery, or online ordering at www.sunflowerbakery.org info@sunflowerbakery.org