Cooking Up Careers

Students learn basic culinary skills, along with food safety  and time management, before moving to advanced cooking and baking techniques. Plus, they can earn a food handler card—an essential certification in the food service industry.

Sialafua Polamalu, a high school senior and associated  student body president, is excited for the chance to take  the introductory course. She mentioned that she wanted  to take a culinary course during her first year of high  school, but one wasn’t available. Now she’s learning  skills that that she can use now and in the future. “I didn’t know there was a specific way to hold a knife,” she said.

Classmate Bayliegh Crosier, a 10th grader, shared that she likes learning to make food that she didn’t think would be easy to make, like bread or tortillas.

O’Toole helps students build confidence in the kitchen, explaining, “If you can follow a recipe, you can make anything.” Recipes are displayed on a large digital screen, making it easy for students to follow along.

For a look inside the kitchen, ninth-grader Kristopher Lyman shared, “There are a ton of ingredients, and you have everything around here that you need to cook in an industrial kitchen. There are skills that we’re developing that are crucial in real life.”

As students learn to follow recipes, they also get the chance to create their own dishes. “We’ve done a lot of soups,” said Hunter Pierce, a 10^th grader. “We had one where we could choose everything we wanted to put in it,” he said, mentioning that he and a friend opened the cupboard and chose spices based on the smells.

Jeffrey Champlin is in 11th grade and started cooking when he was around six. He’s in the Pro-Start class, where students improve culinary techniques. He said making aioli has been a good thing to learn and explained, “You take mayo and add things that you think will taste good.” He likes to add cilantro, cheese, lemon and garlic.

O'Toole also promotes problem-solving skills among students. For instance, when a couple of students  were looking for ranch dressing to go with their fried pickles, he challenged them to make it from scratch.

Cooking is more about preparing food—it’s a universal language. “We all eat. It’s common ground for everyone,” O’Toole said. “Food is a way to communicate.”

Dusty Thompson is a senior who started taking culinary classes last year. She’s currently enrolled in Pro-Start. “The class really brings people together, and I wouldn’t have known a lot of these people.”

This spring, students enrolled in the Pro-Start program will make food from various regions across the globe, including crepes and street tacos.

After preparing food, students sit together and share what they’ve made, discussing flavors and techniques. It’s a moment to connect and reflect on their work.

Beyond the kitchen classroom, students step into the workforce by managing a self-sustaining café for school staff. From building the menu, making espresso drinks to tracking sales and marketing, students are gaining experience in customer service and business operations.

“We make orders for teachers and deliver coffee—sometimes up to a dozen drinks in one class period,” said senior Gracy Pierce. “I can put this on my resume if I apply to a coffee shop. Plus, I get to talk with a lot of people. This is the best part of my day.”

Features in the café were built with the help of the high school’s construction and manufacturing CTE classes. This cross-program collaboration highlights the importance of teamwork and real-world application of skills.

The Hospitality and Tourism program collaborates with community partners to provide students with hands-on catering experience at events and workshops, including the summer Culinary Combine. As the program continues to expand, new opportunities are on the horizon—roasting coffee beans will soon be part of the curriculum.

Smooth CTE operations require behind-the-scenes planning. O’Toole budgets and shops for groceries every week. Douglas Education Service District’s CTE Regional Coordinator, Tracy Spelgatti, supports program administration, helping districts develop  state-recognized programs, navigate funding, and secure industry equipment like the pizza oven. She also  manages grants, organizes professional development, and assists instructors with endorsements. There’s a strategy behind the CTE courses offered. Spelgatti collaborates with advisory committees and industry leaders to help predict future job demands.

With industry-level training and experience, students will leave the Hospitality and Tourism program equipped with the skills needed to work in the food industry. Learn more about the Winston-Dillard School District at www.wdsd.org.