Kaitlin Schamberger had a passion for teaching children in under-resourced areas to help them achieve their dreams and eat healthy, farm-to-table food, and she incorporated both into her lifestyle and her teaching.
Though her career teaching second graders at Oakwood Elementary in Waukegan lasted less than two years because she died in March of 2023 at the age of 25 from COVID and pneumonia complications, Schaumberger’s passion can now be experienced by members of the community.
With funds raised by Schaumberger’s family, Kaitlin’s Kitchen is the latest addition to the botany and culinary arts program at John Lewis Middle School, where students can take cooking to a more extensive level.
“We started (preparing food) with two blenders in the greenhouse, and now we have a kitchen to rival a small restaurant,” Brian Greene, the John Lewis teacher who developed and teaches the program, said.
“This is overwhelming,” added Michael Schaumberger, Kaitlin’s father. “Kaitlin loved her students and the Waukegan community. She has a passion for helping students, healthy food and caring for others. She will live on in this amazing kitchen.”
Greene and Schaumberger led a group of more than 150 people in the dedication of Kaitlin’s Kitchen Saturday at John Lewis Middle School in Waukegan, honoring the values of the building’s namesake.
“This is amazing, just amazing,” Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education President Michael Rodriguez said. “Students are learning very important life lessons here.”
Starting the botany class in the 2021-2022 school year, Greene said it became a botany and culinary arts program as the students started preparing and eating the food they were growing. The classroom is a greenhouse outside the school building. Cooking there was limited.
Initially, Schaumberger planned to raise money to create a greenhouse at Oakdale in Kaitlin’s memory. As he learned about the botany and culinary arts program at Lewis, he and Greene talked about the idea of creating a kitchen in a separate building adjacent to Lewis’ greenhouse.
“He asked if the money he raised could be used to build a kitchen at John Lewis,” Greene said. “I said only if we name it for Kaitlin.”
Once the ceremony was complete with speeches, a ribbon-cutting and other dedications, the kitchen doors were open, and it was time for guests to watch students prepare a variety of dishes, including pico de gallo with onions and tomatoes.
One of the students was Reuben Castiollo, a Waukegan High School freshman and an alumnus of the botany and culinary arts program. He is now an ambassador for the course, talking about it throughout the district.
Another chef was eighth-grader Natalia Garibay. She said the class is translating into healthier eating not only for her but also for her family. She is learning how to grow her own food and then use it to prepare meals.
“I’m learning a lot about cooking,” Garibay said. “It is a big help to my mother and my family. I’m cooking for them.”
The kitchen contains tables with hardwood tops for food preparation, refrigerators, freezers, stoves, ovens, a sink, a dishwasher, and tables where people can sit and eat.
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U. S. Rep Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, a guest at the event, said the location of the greenhouse, garden, and kitchen at the school is a benefit for the entire community around it.
“This is John Lewis Middle School and is located far from a grocery store,” Schneider said. “Lewis students learn to grow the food, take it home, and prepare it. Students learning these lessons is something they can take beyond school and into the lives of the people around them. These lessons make a huge difference.”
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham was once a student at John Lewis Middle School. He said at the event that the lessons students in the botany and culinary arts program can take youngsters on a variety of journeys. Part of the education system in Waukegan is now learning how to live a healthy life.
“The teachers are teaching students differently so they can understand the importance of their education and how they can use it in their lives,” Cunningham said. “What teachers are teaching our children will be open to different ways to live in our society.”