Chef Shelley Kennett, one of only ten female chefs in the country to earn a Michelin star in 2012 while working at the former Applewood Inn, joined our Sonoma Country Day School community in the fall of 2015. She provides a healthy and well-balanced hot lunch program that emphasizes seasonal and quality ingredients for our students and staff and also serves as our in-house chef for all our catering needs. Chef Shelley connects our school gardens with our lunch program and creates culinary arts opportunities for students in partnership with faculty. She has helped turn our school kitchen into a classroom, providing hands-on cooking projects that enable her to follow her passion for ethnobotany--the use of plants by humans, including edibles--that led her to cooking. As a school located in Wine Country, we have a personal connection to the growers in our community and understand how vital an educational garden program is to our mission and curriculum. We are delighted that Chef Shelley shares our commitment to serving school meals that reflect our regard for our children.