Cooking up policies is about to become Julie Chernoff’s specialty.
Chernoff, 40, a professional chef and an accomplished vocalist, is one of the newly elected members of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board. But don’t expect free food at board meetings — Chernoff is there to write a recipe for change.
“I’ve been involved in the schools and want to fix things,” she said. “I like to take action instead of complaining and doing nothing.”
Chernoff’s two children have attended Evanston schools, where she volunteered for the PTA.
No one who knows her is surprised that she ran for the board.
“She’s not afraid to speak her mind,” said Catherine Weidner, who heads the Orrington Elementary School cultural arts committee with Chernoff. “The board will benefit from her experience, and she will be a strong advocate for equity and achievement.”
In her first month as a board member, Chernoff has spent more time acquainting herself with the district by visiting schools, meeting with principals and researching district funding.
Already, she said, she has been fielding a lot of phone calls from parents concerned about the future of the school district.
“She’s got a lot on her plate,” said a friend, Eden Pearlman. “I was a little worried because it’s an enormous commitment, but she doesn’t take anything lightly. I’m not aware of a single thing she doesn’t do well.”
Pearlman, whose son is entering kindergarten next year, said she is happy to know that Chernoff is on the board.
“I know there is at least one person looking out for my son because that is the kind of person Julie is — concerned about everyone,” Pearlman said.
A Detroit-area native, Chernoff developed her work ethic at an early age. She said her mother, who owned a retail store, was one of the “few moms who worked” at the time. Chernoff remembers helping her as a young girl.
But Chernoff found her true passion in cooking.
“I love eating,” she said. “I started cooking and it made me happy. And the skills came easily to me.”
When she was 16, Chernoff started catering for her friends and her parents’ friends.
After getting a degree in English at Yale University, Chernoff returned to her first love and traveled across the country to attend the California Culinary Academy.
She met her husband, Joshua Chernoff, at Yale, and the couple moved to Evanston in 1989 when he received a scholarship to study at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
In addition to being co-chairwoman of the cultural arts committee, Chernoff also is active with the Evanston In-School Music Association and has sung with the choir at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St. Unwilling to put down her chef’s hat, she regularly teaches cooking at her home and with staff from Kendall College’s culinary arts department.
Although she now has a new four year commitment ahead of her, Chernoff still finds time to develop her multifaceted talents — she is helping choreograph the Oompa Loompas in her son Adam’s fifth grade theater production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
