The Men's Group takes it to the kitchen . . .

Last Wednesday evening, the Seattle Works “men’s group” gathered at Treehouse for what promised to be an interesting evening of cooking and career discussion with the “boys group.” This was our third formal activity with the boys, or “dudes” as we prefer to call them, and was probably the most interactive yet (we previously went to a baseball game and visited the UW planetarium, and a smaller group of us had the chance to go shopping for holiday presents with Deion Branch of the Seahawks).

The men outnumbered the boys almost two-to-one, so there was plenty of quality time with each of the boys. We spent the early part of the evening preparing a Mexican feast of tacos and nachos. We split the boys into two groups – one for cooking duty in the Treehouse kitchen (cooking the taco meat, warming the tortillas, melting cheese over the nachos, etc.) and the rest of us chopped lettuce, grated cheese, and made guacamole. The kitchen crew emerged with a large skillet full of browned and seasoned taco meat. Meanwhile, several of us “mentored” the boys with our gourmet chopping and grating skills. There were no knife accidents while chopping lettuce and tomatoes or bloody knuckles while grating the cheese, so the preparations were a success. While all of this was happening, we all had the chance to talk casually with the boys about school, sports, etc.

After sitting down to a hearty feast of tacos, nachos, chips and guacamole, we had a lively conversation about careers. The men each wrote down on cards what their current occupation is and we asked the boys to each draw a card and guess which of the men that card represented. It was fun watching the kids guess which one of us was a banker, a political staffer, business consultant, etc. Next, we asked each of the boys what kinds of careers they are interested in pursuing after high school. The answers were fascinating! The answers included an artist/animator, architect, carpenter, scientist, and even an anesthesiologist!! Who knew that boys ranging in age from12-17 had such cool and creative career ambitions??

We are all having fun getting to know these boys and it is very rewarding to know that we are providing them with positive adult male role models, all in a fun and casual atmosphere. Originally we were only getting together with the boys every two months, but there seems to be consensus among us that we would all be willing to plan monthly activities for the rest of the school year. In February, we may try to do something fun like take them bowling. Stay tuned for our further adventures!

- John Hoey