AmeriCorps Week
Dear Editor: My name is Abbey Rothfeldt, and I am a second year AmeriCorps serving at Pacific High School as the cook.
In a year of uncertainty and high emotions, Pacific High School has served as a sanctuary for many. The students, the staff, and my fellow AmeriCorps members have made Pacific feel like home for me in a time when social support is in short supply.
After a year of serving adjacent to my position at PHS through STA, I knew that I was going to enjoy the dynamics of the school: I knew more of the students due to my previous involvement in the SNEP culture classes, I had had Facetime with the staff before the pandemic broke last March, and I was diving into a position that offered an opportunity to learn something new every single day from my chef, Spence.
After a clumsy start of learning foreign knife techniques, the importance of spinning fresh kale, and perfecting my internal timer, I feel confident in my growth, not only as a cook, but as an individual. Spence taught me the importance of trial and error – realizing that the only way for there to be growth is for there to be failure. While this life lesson seems simple, it is one that I have struggled with in much of my professional life. Living every day with the understanding that, sometimes, biscuits get burnt on the bottom or that two quarts of beans is indeed too much for a veggie soup – but these moments have been the catalyst of challenges to push myself to be better.
This life lesson is part of the backbone of Pacific High. Students can make mistakes. They are encouraged to examine where it went wrong, where help could have been provided and how to deal with the consequences of their actions. I currently have a student Spence and I have started teaching. Seeing his growth in the past few weeks has reiterated how far I have come since August while, in contrast, seeing my chef work reminds me of how far my journey has to go. I am seeing the metaphorical seeds so many of us hear of being planted in this student’s life: a greater appreciation for food and the process it goes through for a single meal, the importance of diligence and consistency, and, of course, the never-ending process of trial and error.
Thank you, again, for allowing me another year to serve on Lingít Aaní, and I look forward to a warm and sun-filled summer!
Abigail Rothfeldt, Sitka
(Abbey the AmeriCorps)
