Imagine walking into a kitchen and the smell of garlicy herbs and spicy peppers hits your nose before you see it: the gourmet looking dish of a spicy, intensely flavorful salsa. Then you look further to see talented culinary students busy creating wonderful foods. This is a look into Rochelle Briggs’ culinary class.
Seniors Cameron Simoneaux and Maddox Scott are two of many students in Briggs’s culinary classes. There are three different types of culinary classes; both Scott and Simoneaux are in the most upper level class.
“I teach three different classes: intro to culinary arts, culinary arts, and advanced culinary arts,” Briggs said.
In Briggs’s advanced culinary arts class, students work at internships in the community to gain a real-world culinary skillset. They start out in the school cafeteria and then move onto other establishments. At the moment, some students are at Chick-fil-A, and they are enjoying their time there.
“Taking culinary is super fun,” Simoneaux said. “Mrs. Briggs is a great teacher and I have learned a lot from her over the years.”
According to Scott, something that culinary has helped him with outside of school is his social skills.
“Culinary has helped me outside of school by helping me to get ahead in the food industry,” Simoneaux said. “As well as at work I get higher pay, less training, and overall just more knowledge.”
The students make different foods depending on the unit. Some things that students work on is getting their managers certificate, learning how to run a restaurant, communication skills, handling food, and anything and everything culinary related. The students also do catering jobs from time to time.
“Our class makes and sells hot cocoa and chips,” Scott said.
A few examples of units that the advanced culinary class works on is baking and decorating cakes, quick breads and yeast breads, plating and garnishing, and work place and interview skills.
“I absolutely love culinary,” Simoneaux said. “I could spend all day in there.”
