WS has cooked up a delicious elective that many students have taken interest in: Gourmet Foods.
Students have undermined the experience of this class because there is so much more to it than cooking.
In Gourmet Foods the class of 30 usually cooks something up at least once a week.
The students sit in tables of three to four, and work together by combining their new food based knowledge. The students are constantly working together, and developing great communication skills.
“One thing about the class students like is that there is no homework,” says Gourmet Foods teacher Heather Sullivan.
The first part of the year is mostly baking, so the students can get used to properly measuring and becoming comfortable around the kitchen. The second part of the year is consisted of cooking more difficult recipes to perform since the students are just about professional chefs by now.
“I enjoy to cook, and it’s really nice to try new foods,” says Sophomore Jordan Shuck.
The class follows the curriculum of Gourmet and International Food and Hospitality. Within this they learn how to run businesses like hotels and restaurants, how to deal with tourism and going on vacations, recreational industries and the skills to run them; and, of course, cooking and baking along with consumerism.
During their consumerism unit the students learn how to cook any part of a cow and make it tender just like if it were sirloin as well as the science behind baking all their appetizing creations.
“There are aspects that are hard, but it’s also really fun because you make things that you usually wouldn’t make by yourself. I recommend the class,” says Sophomore Juri Candelaria.
When learning about the skills on how to run a restaurant the students took forms to the administrators.
On those forms the admin got to choose what they would like to have inside their omelet the students would serve at their next meeting.
So when the day came for an administration meeting the gourmet food students whipped up the omelet of choice for their admin for them to enjoy during their meeting. WS 12th-grade vice principal, Shannon Matheny, added that the students put a lot of planning into cooking the omelets. The students even served the lovely addition of orange juice along with the breakfast meal.
“It was like going to a restaurant. Everything was fresh, they were hot, and they were delicious,” says Matheny.
One major goal for this class is to help students prepare themselves for later in life, but in a fun and tasty environment. Whether it’s learning how to make a chicken stock, to cooking enchiladas; or learning the past, present, and future of tourism this class is always stirring up something new.
“These are skills they’re going to use forever,” said Sullivan.