Teen Center Alumnus Returns For Cooking Fun With Next Generation

ORLAND PARK, IL — A former Bridge Teen Center attendee of the culinary arts program, who is studying to become a chef, recently took a trip back to the place he loved to hang out at as a kid.

Louis Kerfman took every chance he could as a 7th-12th grade student to attend culinary classes at the center. Studying at Joliet Junior College to become a chef, Kerfman credits a big part of his love for culinary arts to his time spent in The Bridge’s kitchen. Louis recently returned to The Bridge — in Orland Park — to teach students how to make omelets and share his love for cooking.

“The amount of guidance [I received] really pushed me in the path I am on now. Without The Bridge, I'm sure I would've found it,” Kerfman said. “I wanted to be able to be that guide in these upcoming students’ lives. I want to be able to show them the fun part of what we can do in the kitchen.”

According to the center, Kerfman has been a part of The Bridge family since 2013.

"My favorite thing about The Bridge as a student was just how warm, welcoming and inviting everybody was," Kerfman said. "No matter what you were doing, where you were at, or who you were with, everybody was always there to either help you, hang out with you, or just...be able to be there with you."

Kerfman went on to say, “As an adult and alumnus, I am lucky enough to be involved in the fact that I can come back and teach these programs. I am able to serve the next generations of students through The Bridge.”

The Bridge Teen Center works to provide a safe place for teens to develop in a holistic way and to find hope, purpose and direction. The center said each year, more than 350 different programs and events are offered, and since 2010, more than 10,400 different students from 128 neighboring communities have been reached.

“Louis’s story is a great example of exactly why The Bridge was created,” said Founder and Executive Director Priscilla Steinmetz. “We are here to serve our students and meet them wherever they are at - whether that means helping them find a career path they’d like to pursue, helping them connect with others, or simply providing them with a safe place to just be themselves.”

According to the center, Kerfman's advice to any teen considering joining The Bridge would be to "jump right in headfirst."

"[Joining The Bridge] was probably one of the best decisions I personally made… It was a great place to meet people not only my age, but also to be able to grow with those people," Kerfman said. "I still talk to people that I met here. They’ve become some of my closest friends. It’s a great place to be."

“We are continually striving to be a place where students can not only be, but become,” Steinmetz said. “It is our hope and prayer that as we continue to grow, each student we serve, like Louis, will have their own story of how The Bridge impacted their lives for the better.”

Learn more about the Orland Park center on its website, here.