Brattleboro Area Middle School offers afterschool programming for all enrolled students through its BEAMS sessions (Brattleboro Enrichment Activities for Middle School). The first session of BEAMS will run Sept.15 - Oct. 24, 2025. Check out the course schedule.
As a Farm to School Coach, I know it’s important to expose students to education about our food systems. This includes cooking food, learning about where our food comes from, and how this all affects our communities and ourselves. When students learn about food, they can make informed choices that affect our bodies, our land, our economy, and our communities. A fun way to learn about food is through cooking and eating it. That is why I recommend trying a food-related BEAMS program this year.
10 reasons WHY you should sign up for a food-related BEAMS program:
Cooking classes tend to be the most popular club choices.
Students love them, many joining repeatedly over the course of the year! Ms. Gao’s Chinese Cooking club and Ms. Goodhue’s Cooking club always fill up fast, so sign up early.
There are many cooking club choices offered several different days of the week, so you can find one that fits your interests or your schedule.
BEAMS programs run the gamut; from Grilling club to Harry Potter Cooking. The latter offers a chance to consider what you enjoyed most about the story and characters, bringing it to life with food and baked treats grounded in the story itself.
Bring home a huge bag of gifts from the Holiday Cookie Swap.
Students contribute recipes connected to their own family traditions. Over six weeks, students make, bake, and freeze the holiday treats.
On the final day, students have the opportunity to take home a plethora of different treats that they can gift to others. It’s pretty magical to watch this culminating event each year.
Hang out with your friends outdoors during Grilling Club.
Nick Yileadis, BEAMS director, remembers seeing a group of students gathered together around the grill, laughing and chatting with each other as they learned grilling techniques.
He felt “as if we were peering out on a neighborhood barbecue… such a great example of how food-based experiences can draw students together socially”.
Learn new skills, gain new confidence!
Cooking is truly a lifelong skill. Students hone these skills in BEAMS, and then recreate these dishes at home and throughout their lives.
Even clubs like Pizza Friday or Ramen Cooking offer a spin on this, showing students over six weeks how to confidently prepare a foundational recipe while also demonstrating how a few simple tweaks or different ingredients can bring variety to a common meal.
Explore other cultures.
Ms. Gao’s Cooking Club shares Chinese culture with students. Food is an engaging, hands on, and delicious way to give students a window into another culture.
Tap into your artistic side with food as the canvas.
Baking clubs allow students to decorate a cupcake and then present their design to their peers. This also helps build confidence and communication skills.
Explore a potential career path.
One former BEAMS student, passionate about cooking, participated in just about every cooking club offered by BEAMS. He also offered recipe ideas and program themes to club leaders.
This year, he is pursuing an opportunity to do an internship and kitchen work with The Vermont Table.
BEAMS allowed this student to explore his interests and practice leadership skills. He is now continuing to follow his dreams as he advances in his education.
Drink some tea and chill out.
Join Ms. Carmichael’s Tea Talks to drink some tea and decompress from the week.
You may be surprised to see that simply gathering around tea can build community and open up conversations.
Eat delicious food each week.
Ok, that one is obvious but it’s still a great reason to join a BEAMS cooking club!
Written by Adelaide Petrov-Yoo