Monique J.

Cooking and Art

New York City

• I developed my palate and culinary skills as an apprentice for my grandmother, who was a renowned garment chef with a high-end clientele. Some of my fondest memories as a sous chef entailed prepping meals for the founders of Newhouse Publishing Company and Nike to name a few. I’ve also assisted with prepping meals for a girl’s sleepaway camp which averaged approximately 200 campers. I lead and assist culinary classes for K-3 grade to introduce young chefs to Blend It Up, Cooking Around the World and Cooking Through History concepts. Ideally, enrichment integrates STEM, Language Arts, History and Social Studies concepts for learning outcomes. I also voluntary as a Sous Chef for Cook and Taste and Community Service events Hosted by Chef Boni Wolfe (A Philadelphia Exchange).
• Exposure to art programs hosted by the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, storefront pottery classes, and Girls Scouts of America fostered my artistic side. Contracting with various afterschool programs allows me to share my skills with K-6 learners. Young creatives learn about the history of art techniques, where they apply these skills to create own masterpieces. Conceptually, enrichment introduces STEM, Social Studies, Geography and Language Arts.
• Growing up sewing was as fundamentally important as reading, writing and arithmetic; so at a very young age I mastered how to create patterns from scratch, hand stitch and machine sew clothing, toys and textiles which I sold at farmers’ markets and pop-up events. As an instructor for various afterschool programs, I introduced aspiring K-6 tailors to rudimentary sewing practices, where they develop skills in foundational hand stitch and machine sewing techniques. Enrichment integrates STEM and Language Art concepts.

Monique Howards has 30+ years facilitating training, educational and professional development programs for government, higher education, K -12 and community outreach initiative. She has also worked on committees to revamp programs and restructure outdated learning modules to introduce and implement cutting edge ideas for enhancement and advancement purposes. Her teaching style culminates both student-centered and constructivism approaches because she firmly believe that learners thrive best through experimentation and collaboration, I enjoy working sharing my skills to give back to the community.