As you open the door to the classroom, the aroma of freshly-made salsa fills the air. Going in further, the students are cutting tortillas to make chips. When opening the cabinet door, spices like oregano, cumin and salt are stacked in lines; when looking inside of the fridge, one can see garlic, limes and chili peppers. Rochelle Briggs’ culinary classroom is one like no other.
Briggs has taught the culinary courses over the past five years. In her class, students learn how to properly cook and handle food correctly in the kitchen at the back of her room. They also learn food safety, and work on getting their food- handlers license. The students learn to make a variety of things, like pastas, omelets, and sauces, too.
“We concentrate on being industry ready,” Briggs said. “That means that my students can leave here ready to work in a restaurant. My first-year students work on getting their food handlers license that certifies them in knowing how to keep food safe.”
In Briggs’ culinary class, beginner students learn how to move about the kitchen safely, read a recipe duly, and proper knife skills that they will need in the future. The upper-level classes work on earning their Food Managers certification and using the skills that they have previously learned to cook more recipes. Outside of actively being in the kitchen, the students do notes packets and watch cooking videos.
“My beginner class was very simple, easy work,” senior Gracie Dewitt said. “Mrs. Briggs warned us about year two and how it would be hard. She wasn’t lying.”
Dewitt is one of Briggs’ students and has been in classes for three years now. According to Briggs, she is a natural in the kitchen, and can be given a recipe and trust that it will come out looking great. She is also very good with helping to direct the other students in her class in the right direction and does her dishes without being asked.
“She has been a great student in my class for three years,” Briggs said. “We have a great rapport with each other.”
Briggs’ favorite thing to teach is the grains, legumes and pasta unit. Her students make homemade pasta, and she said that they always do very well. However, her students most favored things to cook are the salsa recipe and the lasagna. Dewitt’s favorite unit is the soups, because it is her favorite food, and she said Briggs makes it a fun recipe.
“My favorite thing that we have made in class is the chicken noodle soup we made in my junior year,” Dewitt said.
Briggs decided to teach culinary because she loves to teach students skills that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives. She said that students might not have jobs where art skills are needed or an in-depth knowledge of history, but they will always have to eat. If they know how to read and follow a recipe, then they can survive.
“I just love my students,” Briggs said. “And I love teaching a class that we get to have so much fun in. It’s not always fun and games though. We do a lot of learning in class, and they don’t love that so much but getting to watch their faces light up when they master a recipe is worth all of the moaning and groaning they do.”
alia • Feb 7, 2025 at 11:11 am
love it.