For many high school students, adapting to distance learning has brought new challenges, such as isolation, Zoom fatigue, and staying motivated, on top of other stressors during the pandemic.

“I’m a very face-to-face person,” says tenth-grader Azucena Hernandez, known as “Azu” to her friends. “Emailing teachers has been terrible. I’m very good at speaking to people. That’s my strong point. I haven’t been able to do that, and that’s been really hard.”

But participating CUESA's Foodwise Teens, an after-school cooking, gardening, and job skills program, has helped Azu continue to nourish that outgoing part of herself, even if much of the learning is online.