ing to work a microwave and an electric frying pan as instructors strayed away from the oven and stovetop. “The kids wanted to learn how to cook on the stove and use the oven, but we didn’t feel confident enough in ourselves to teach all the culinary skills that a blind individual learns intrinsically,” Reynolds said. That was until Jody May, Ivy Tech Indianapolis’ first blind culinary arts graduate, entered the picture. When it was time for May to complete an externship, Chef Jeff Bricker, the department chair of the hospitality adminis- tration at Ivy Tech Indianapolis, called ISBVI and asked if she could be a student teacher in their ECC cooking class. Al- though Reynolds said yes, she was initially wary about how it would work. However, Reynolds says, her fears disappeared on May’s first day. “She just fit in perfectly,” Reyn - olds said. “I think the most im- portant thing was that the kids were being taught by someone who was blind just like them, and that’s inspiring,” she con- tinued,” “Jody was such a role model.” Ever since beginning her stud- ies at Ivy Tech, May’s goal has been to help those blind or with vision impairments learn how to cook a full meal. Since losing her sight in 2012, she has real- ized how much people without
sight are at the mercy of those who do have sight. “I really want to help those stu- dents who are getting ready to graduate from high school and go off to college to be inde- pendent in the kitchen so they don’t have to rely on somebody else to feed themselves or or- der delivery all the time,” May said. May’s classes during her ex- ternship focused on identifying cooking tools, learning how to use knives, and meal prep. Her course was a hit, and her les- sons invigorated the students. May’s expertise was in such demand that she began visiting them in their dormitories in the evening, teaching them how to prepare dishes for dinner, and it continued through summer. Fi- nally, May’s time at ISBVI ended as she prepared to continue her studies at Indiana University - Indianapolis. May says that from there, mul- tiple facets and divine timing finally put the ball in motion for an adaptive culinary arts pro- gram at ISBVI. “For starters, the students re- ally expressed wanting to gain those independent skills. And I think what kind of tipped the ball over the edge was seeing the students I got to work with be in the kitchen and hearing them talk about what they got to do, what they learned, and executing on that,” May said. “Once all parties realized stu- dents not only want this but
need it to be successful, it pushed forward.”
Before you knew it, the Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation (IBCF) and Chef Bricker became involved. ISBVI, IBCF, Bricker, Reynolds, and May helped orchestrate a cooking class for six ISBVI students with Christine Ha, the season three winner of MasterChef, at the Conference Center and Culinary Institute on the downtown Indianapolis campus. Chef May and Chef Bricker were two of several adults in the room helping the students through the virtu- al cooking class in which Ha, known as the blind cook, taught them how to make Chinese cold sesame noodles. The entire course was recorded, and the video played at IBCF’s annual Through the Looking Glass Gala on Oct. 7, 2023. IBCF raised over $200,000 to- wards the first adaptive culinary arts program at ISBVI with the help of Reitano Design Group, whose adaptive kitchen designs helped gala attendees envision an adaptive kitchen. “Learning to cook is such an important aspect of life, and we do our students a disservice by only teaching them how to op- erate a microwave. Many ISBVI students want to move on to four-year colleges, and learning how to cook for themselves is a big part of gaining that in- dependence to continue their education,” May said.
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