Sunflower Bakery uses food as a lever to set young adults with learning differences on paths to productive adulthood through skilled job training and employment opportunities. As a non-profit, social enterprise, Sunflower is a working bakery where students learn pastry and hospitality skills and are an integral part of our daily production and selling of all our baked goods through online sales and via two retail outlets (in Rockville and in North Bethesda).
Sunflower Bakery’s programs focus on providing Pastry Arts and Hospitality training as well as Teen Job Exposure. Our 26-Week Pastry Arts Employment Training Program includes formal pastry and baking instruction; employee preparedness including strategies for workplace communication, job responsibility, resume- writing, interview skills and ServSafe instruction; and supervised on-the-job training. Our 26-Week Hospitality Employment Training Program includes front-of-house skills such as customer service, cash management and point of sale operations, barista, packaging, merchandising, upselling and ServSafe training as well as employee preparedness, self-advocacy and communication skills through role-playing and developing strategies for answering customer questions. We also offer Job Coaching Services. Our newest job development and job coaching opportunities provide additional support through our employment training programs for current students as well as integral employment-matching assistance and job-site coaching for our graduates. Teens with a broad range of learning differences participate in our introductory after-school or summer classes where they are exposed to the basics of baking and a career in pastry arts.
