GEORGETOWN, Del. - Six men at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown graduated Friday morning from a four week culinary training program.
The program is in partnership with First State Community Action Agency. Each session is led by Chef Lee Stewart.
The ceremony started at 11 a.m. where the men shared what their plans are after they leave prison. Afterwards, they prepared a buffet style presentation.
The men chose to prepare Thai cuisine which includes Thai shrimp cakes, cucumber salad and coconut-mango ice cream for dessert.
Ice cream made by six culinary graduates at Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown.
The men walked away with a certificate after completing 44 hours of training.
Allen Taylor fought back tears as he shared what the certificate in his hands means to him.
Allen Taylor's certificate he received after graduating from SCI's culinary program in Georgetown.
"I want to become something else," Taylor shared.
Taylor has been in and out of prison for years. He is currently incarcerated at Sussex Correctional Institution.
On Friday, he graduated from the culinary arts training program which provides them skills to hopefully get employment at local restaurants or even start their own.
"That is the power that makes a person say, you know what? I can move forward," said Taylor.
The program is in partnership with First State Community Action Agency. Executive Director of FSCAA Bernice Edwards is excited for what is in store for these men.
"We want them to be prepared to be the man that they need to be. I often tell them 'you have to fix you first,'" Edwards explained.
"So that's what our goal is here with the re-entry program," Edwards continued.
For four weeks the men worked with Chef Lee Stewart, learning everything from catering to basic kitchen skills. Stewart says his life experiences pushed him to give back.
"I opened my own restaurant. I had nothing. I came from nothing. They can do the same things themselves. I'm trying to pass that on to them that if that's what they want to do, there's ways that they can make it happen," said Stewart.
Stewart is not the only one that plans to give back to the men at SCI.
"I'm going to be the one to contact them and help guide them through the system, because they need to hear from someone who really understands them, someone who was there with them," Taylor explained.
Taylor is expected to get out in the fall and start his new chapter. He says he plans to go to culinary school when he is released. Taylor says he would eventually like to open a restaurant one day and incorporate the meals he learned from the culinary program with Chef Lee Stewart.