Nora Barquín
Program Instructor: Spanish Language Classes
Nora has a PhD in Biology and a MSW in social work. She has been working at Right From The Start as a Program Coordinator at Family Network since 2002. She helps facilitate the Spanish cooking classes with Nurture. She started cooking when she was eight helping her mom and grandmother in the kitchen. When she came to live in the US she had to learn a different way of cooking with different appliances, spices and time constraints. Nora’s passion for helping people and her joy for cooking make her a very dedicated volunteer for Nurture.
Bertha Chávez
Program Instructor: Spanish Language Classes
Bertha was a nurse in her native country Ecuador. Trained as a doula, she facilitates prenatal groups in Spanish at Right From The Start Program in Family Network. She is a very experienced cook. She started cooking when she was a girl helping her mom prepare food for the family. Bertha started taking cooking classes in middle school, and since then she has been learning and making new recipes. Participating in Nurture cooking classes is a perfect fit. For Bertha cooking is and will always be her passion.
Tanja Chevalier
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
After being raised in a German household in Wilmette, Tanja raised her own family in France where she lived for 10 years. In both cultures, healthy family meals were the norm. Upon returning to Chicago, the food experience came as a reverse culture shock to her. Intrigued by how current eating habits within our modern society came to be, Tanja started thinking about how to bring them back to a new “normal”. She believes that teaching people how to do for themselves empowers them to succeed in their own future. Her husband and 3 young children love helping out in their veggie patch and enjoy the variety of flavor compositions created in the kitchen. Tanja also believes in community building and a shared meal prepared together does just that . She holds a BA from Colby College and an MBA from HEC Paris, France.
Gina Gooden
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Gina was lucky enough to be inspired by two cooks in her family. While her mom cooked for a family of five, Gina also observed her Nonna, “cook Italian”. As a newlywed, Gina has added her own flair and has enjoyed trying out many new recipes. Time is precious, as Gina works full time as Program Coordinator for a local municipality’s Youth & Senior Services; so she is always looking to make tasty, quick and healthy meals for herself and her husband. He loves her cooking! Gina has a teaching background and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. Gina loves to teach, loves kids, and loves to teach kids to cook.
Bonnie Masterman
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
After over 20 years in banking, Bonnie decided it was time to be a stay at home mom. With all that extra time on her hands, she started reading about our food supply and general nutrition and began working toward feeding her family better. The Nurture opportunity presented itself as a way not only to have fun with food and children but to learn something herself!
Bonnie is a mother of 2 sweet and kind daughters, one who is an adventurous eater and the other one picky and step mother to a wonderful step son who eats everything. Her husband can be credited with the increased efforts of the past number of years to increase the variety of vegetables into our diet!
Anne McDonagh
Program Instructor: Kids Classess
Anne McDonagh joined Nurture in the Fall of 2010, after working independently on improving children’s access to healthy foods in schools, park districts, after soccer games, and at community activities. Anne learned to cook healthy helping her mother of six prepare food for their family and credits a rigorous high school cooking class for most of her food preparation skills. As well as working in Marketing for 20 years, she has served as a Junior Achievement counselor and classroom teacher and on two school boards. Anne has a degree in Communications and an MBA, both from Northwestern University. She enjoys teaching cooking skills, nutrition, fitness and enhancing school lunch offerings. Anne’s focus is on changing our children’s environment, so they most often are offered the healthy foods that enrich them physically, mentally and emotionally. Anne and her husband have two sons in high school.
Lynn Reiner
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Lynn has always had a love for cooking and baking for her family and friends. Coupled with the fulfillment of teaching children for the past 14 years for the Glencoe Park District, Nurture was a perfect fit. She has enjoyed working in the non-profit world as the past regional president for ORT America and volunteering for many years in the Highland Park school system for her 3 grown children. Nurture is another opportunity for her to give back to the community her love of both healthy cooking and education.
Karen Reisin
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Karen joined Nurture in the fall of 2011. She enjoys cooking and baking, and has always had an interest in nutrition. She also enjoys working with children and has volunteered for many years in the Highland Park School system, as well as Oakton Elementary School in Evanston. Karen has a B.S. in Marketing from Indiana University and is currently pursuing a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant Certificate through AFPA.
She loves spending time with her husband and two children. She also likes exercising, yoga and bridge.
Beth Stencel
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Beth and her husband have three wonderful children that have been the center of her life for the past 15 years. She loves to spend time in the garden and kitchen planning the healthiest, quickest and tastiest meals to feed her family. Beth is currently in school, pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming a registered dietitian. She is anxious to get to work, teaching about the importance of healthy eating and exercise. Beth loves running, biking and skiing. She works part time in a holistic healing center. Previously Beth worked in hotel management and meeting planning.
Lexi Tracy
Program Instructor: Kids Classes
Originally from Northbrook, Lexi now lives in Chicago and is a graduate student at National Louis University in an Elementary Education program. She is bilingual in Spanish and English, owing this talent to years of studying Spanish as well as experiences living abroad. Lexi spent a semester in Spain during college and seven months in Chile after graduating teaching English to 5th through 8th graders. She loves the opportunity to continue using Spanish in teaching Nurture classes at Oak Terrace Elementary School. Nurture is also a great volunteer fit because of Lexi’s passion for good food and healthy living.
