Poughkeepsie Day School is a dynamic place where students love to learn and faculty love to teach. This section focuses on a particular curricular development or innovation, student or faculty project and other subjects of interest at PDS. We hope these snapshots of our program and introduction to our "PDS people" provide you with a better understanding of what makes our school so distinctive.

An Appetite for Helping Others: Jake N. - F. '08 by Mary Forsell

When Jake N. - F. told friends he planned on attending a liberal arts college, many were surprised he
didn’t want to go the culinary school route. After all, the PDS senior has run a chocolate truffles business (The Jakery) complete with professional Web site since age 14. On top of that, Jake has taught central study (CS) courses at PDS on chocolate, presenting its history, conducting tastings and even demonstrating cooking techniques so that students could create their own desserts.

Says the 17-year old (pictured at right), “The main reason for culinary school is to learn on the job, but I’ve been working in the pastry business for five years, either on weekends or full-time in the summer.” And, indeed, Jake’s résumé tells the story. In Manhattan, he apprenticed under pastry chef Kate Zuckerman at the classical French restaurant Chanterelle and worked as a pastry cook at Gramercy Tavern for several summers. In Paris, he completed a summer apprenticeship at the chocolatier Jean-Charles Rochoux. Currently, he is putting the finishing touches on his menu at Starr Place in Rhinebeck, where he will serve as pastry chef part-time until he kicks into full gear this summer.

Then there’s also The Queens Galley, a 24/7 soup kitchen in Kingston that has become his rallying cry ever since executive director Diane Reeder visited PDS in 2007 and explained how her nonprofit helps the community. Says Reeder, “He’s not intimidated by something that’s big. He came right up to me and said he really believed in what we were doing and wanted to be part of it in some capacity.”

For starters, Jake spent time in the kitchen at The Queens Galley. Moreover, he went out into the world and got things done—for example, a recent food drive for which he called upon the resources of PDS. Last January, when the organization was out of money and almost out of food yet seating more people due to the colder weather, Jake took ownership of the drive. Says Reeder, “It was absolutely the best one we’ve ever had.”

Jake N. - F.’s Chocolate CS culminated in a sale of student-produced goodies

With the help of PDS technology advisor Peter Vinogradov ’91, Jake is devising software for restaurants and food distributors to log in their pledges to the soup kitchen. Jake envisions the software being used by other soup kitchens across the Hudson Valley—and eventually, the nation—to streamline the donation process and prevent food waste. When he goes off to Oberlin College next fall (where, by the way, he hopes to study food science), he plans on setting up similar “second harvest” programs in the vicinity.

Currently, Jake is looking to obtain a second-hand van for food pickup and deliveries. He plans on getting his PDS classmates together to paint the van—just as they helped him out on other projects, such as the silent auction at a benefit concert for The Queens Galley. PDS students also assisted with The Great American Bake Sale, a fundraising project of the national organization Share Our Strength to benefit the 12.6 million children who go hungry every day. Jake is the coordinator for the Hudson Valley. Money from the fundraiser will help finance Operation Frontline, a nutrition education program that teaches low-income families how to eat healthfully on a limited budget. Chef instructors and nutritionists demonstrate different ways to cook healthful foods for kids and adults.

Some day, Jake might just be one of those chefs. “I see myself owning a restaurant and cooking every day—I couldn’t NOT cook every day. I’ve thought I would have one restaurant for my style of cooking and one that would produce money for food community work.”

As for Reeder of The Queens Galley, she’ll be sorry to see Jake go off to college. “But...I’m excited for the impact he is going to have not just on wherever he lives, but on the entire United States—and I do not say this lightly.”

© PDS Development and Communications Office 2008

View PDF version of this story. Read more about Poughkeepsie Day School's unique central study (CS) program (PDF). View college admissions list for the Class of 2008.

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