Rody’s Story

Rody LaFrance, a fifth-grader at William Jennings Bryan in Miami, wasn’t always interested in helping his mom and dad in the kitchen. But, after coming to Common Threads, that has changed.

“Now, I like to cook!” Rody says. “I do everything, like cutting, mixing ingredients together, and stirring the pot. Actually, the stirring, that’s my favorite part.”

Rody feels proud of his accomplishments in the kitchen. “I cook much better now, and I help my parents with cooking at home, too,” Rody says.

Rody is now a regular contributor to family meals, consulting his Common Threads cookbook for recipes. Some of the dishes have even become family favorites. “My mom and dad and twin sister thought the spaghetti was really good, and they liked other things we made, too” Rody says. “My recipe book has all the food from my class, so I can teach my parents the recipes.”

Rody also enjoys exploring a different part of the world during each Common Threads cooking class. The class’s trip to Mexico was an especially big hit. “We made tacos,” he says. “It’s fun because you can pick all of your fillings!”

Rody knows he’s learning a lot about himself and the world around him, but mostly he likes Common Threads because it’s fun. “I can make food and just have fun while we’re doing the cooking!” he says.

Every year, Common Threads teaches 1,000 low-income children, just like Rody, how to cook wholesome and affordable food because we believe that through our hands-on cooking classes we can help prevent childhood obesity and reverse the trend of generations of non-cookers, while celebrating our cultural differences and the things people all over the world have in common.

The proof is in the pudding. According to recent surveys: 90% of our students said that they feel like they can cook at home with the skills they learned in Common Threads’ cooking classes; 63% reported that they have used Common Threads’ healthy, ethnic recipes at home; and 90% of parents agree that Common Threads has helped improve their child’s self-esteem.