Jamie Oliver’s Dream School, a Channel 4 (UK) documentary for 2011 is one of his most ambitious projects. He is starting a school – a school for twenty teenagers who have had difficulty finishing school.
Jamie is recruiting a group of teachers, including Robert Winston for science, Simon Callow for Drama, Soul II Soul‘s Jazzie B for Music, Alastair Campbell for Politics, Rolf Harris for Art, and Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Daley Thompson for sport.
I’ve seen with many of the kids at Fifteen that if you can find something that sparks someone’s passion, they’ll absolutely embrace it. Not everyone’s into cooking, of course, so what we’re trying to do with Dream School is to provide loads of different academic subjects and some fantastic teachers so that there’s something inspiring for all the young people, whether it’s politics or history or sport or music. It’s fascinating to watch the kids in different lessons and see what switches them on.
Without knowing the outcome of Jamie’s school –- presumably all the students graduate from high school and find motivation for their lives –- what does this show say about schools, chefs, and the way to change the lives of young people in the US?
Should more professionals mentor a few students a year?
Should chefs try to reach out to just a few students, rather then a whole school?
Should high school students be targeted for mentoring, rather then younger students?
What do you think? Please leave comments.