Dru Blaine has faced a lot of challenges in his 17 years on the planet, including living with autism spectrum disorder and growing up with a dysfunctional family life.
But he has discovered a purpose and passion for cooking at Marymound, a youth and family social services organization in Winnipeg that has turned his life around.
“I like cooking, eating, feeding people, and I just like having something to make,” Blaine said in an interview.
He recalls living with numerous family members, including his parents, grandparents and aunt as a child.
“It was a lot of back and forth due to my parents being drug addicts,” he said.
“So it was, like, my early life with my mom, where I was unhappy, then my grandma until I was 12, back to my mom until 14 and then I went to my cousins, which is where I live, and it’s been great.”
Blaine refused to give up on his dream, and Marymound’s student work education experience program (SWEEP) has given him and other at-risk youth a chance to gain valuable work experience.
Youth from Grade 9 to Grade 12 work with mentors who help them develop skills and explore career or post-secondary options.
Morning shifts
Blaine, who has been working at SWEEP for two years since Grade 10, comes twice a week for morning shifts while still attending school.
“I do stuff in the kitchen, yardwork around here,” he said. “I cut vegetables, bake cookies, usually prepare lunch there and clean around.”
With help from his mentors, he is learning all the basic skills required to eventually become a chef.
“It is an easy way to make money, gain experience in cooking and the best I could ever get, honestly,” he said.
Blaine has studied at Marymound’s Pathways Learning Centre since Grade 9.
“The Pathways program has been great and changed my life in many ways.… Without Pathways, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near this.”
Marymound’s Pathways Off-Campus Learning Centre addresses students’ unique needs with a low teacher-student ratio of 1 to 4. The program is dedicated to experiential learning in cultural, academic and employment-focused contexts.
It guides students with different individual needs up to the age of 19.
Students can study strictly academics, choose volunteering or opt for work experience with academics. Students can graduate high school from Pathways, go to an adult learning centre to get a mature diploma, and transition directly into work or work training.
Highly motivated
Alex Jackson, a teacher and co-ordinator at the school, says Blaine always expressed a desire to study cooking.
“He always said, ‘I want to work in the kitchen. I want to do culinary, I want to learn how to cook and make meals for people,'” Jackson recalled.
He says Blaine is highly motivated, and has brought what he has learned back to the classroom.
“He has stepped in to be a mentor for a few students on how to cook,” Jackson said. “There are times he does the whole lunchtime meal for the class.”
With Jackson’s help and a Marymound scholarship, Blaine has been accepted into the Indigenous culinary course at Red River College Polytechnic. Blaine says he’s looking forward to beginning classes in August.
“I want to get a job in a restaurant, and maybe own my own restaurant eventually,” he said. “I want to serve regular people and want people to be able to afford the stuff I serve.”
He says his favourite part about cooking is the prep work.
“It’s like cutting, putting the stuff out, organizing — it’s really a lot more fun if you actually have fun with it,” he said. “I personally like the feeling of using the knife. It’s my favourite.”
He’s also developed a short menu of his specialties: “I make pasta at home and Cracker Jack cookies, which are very well-liked here for some reason.”
Jamie Bierbrick, a chef and Blaine’s supervisor at the Marymound kitchen, says the teen has always been efficient in the kitchen. He’s willing to work on his weaknesses and takes criticism well, said Bierbrick.
“From Day 1, he knew he wanted to go to culinary school and nothing was going to stop him,” he said. “He was willing to learn whatever. That attitude speaks a lot for him,” she said.
Bierbrick says Blaine is an amazing baker, and she knows “he’s gonna end up somewhere in a position where he will be baking and showing his talents that way.”
As for his daily duties, Bierbrick says he helps her with the kitchen prep work, making lunches, receiving orders and then cleaning up at the end of the shift.
Bierbrick knows Blaine faced a lot of struggles in his home life, and says Marymound provided him the stable space he needed to hone his skills.
“He always came with a positive attitude no matter what happened at home or in his life,” Bierbrick said. “I cannot wait to see him graduate and move on to culinary school.”
While living with autism spectrum disorder and in an unstable family environment,17-year-old Dru Blaine discovered a purpose and passion for cooking.