The school year has ended, and Chef Zack Hodge looked back at his first year teaching culinary arts. He enjoyed instructing his students in the art and science of preparing, cooking and presenting food. He had three levels of classes, and they each met every day for 90 minutes.

Culinary arts require an understanding of food science, nutrition and various cooking techniques to create visually appealing and delicious dishes. When they decided to cook for the middle and high school home football and volleyball games, the students had to provide a carb-rich meal—and that meal needed to be prepared and ready for the athletes as soon as school got out for the day.

Unfortunately, the education department does not have a budget for buying food for the culinary arts students. The class must generate income to be able to provide the supplies they need. Chef Zack asks each sports group for a budget for the meal, and his students create a menu within that budget. Any extra will go back into the class bank. Fundraising has become a major part of this class. Many of their classroom supplies are disposable, such as gloves and soap. And the majority of their supplies are edible and must be replaced.

On Mondays during the school year, the students would offer their donuts, salsa, cheesecake or cookies for sale to students. Cookies would cost $1, and each cookie sold made about 33 cents profit. Every couple of weeks, a lunch would be prepared for the staff, for which they would pay $10-$20. This might be ribs, chicken tender, burger, or ribeye steak dinner. And, again, the profit goes back into the class. Having the students plan and prepare meals is a win-win situation. They get hands-on learning, take pride in their work, have responsibility for specific tasks and see the results. They are also required to do clean-up!

But the focus for the 2025-2026 academic year will need to be more on fundraising for culinary arts. The classroom has the equipment to do whatever the class wants to create. Money is always the issue. Chef Zack and the students are willing to cook for anyone in the community who would like a meal prepared for them. Just reach out to Chef and tell him what kind of meal you have in mind, the number of guests and your budget. What is not spent goes right back into the program.

Other plans for 2025-26 include a culinary competition for high schools called SkillsUSA. Chef thinks the competition might appeal to his classes. Students are given a market basket with various ingredients and directed to create an appetizer, soup, main entrée and dessert. They will be judged on sanitation, technical skills, knife skills and the finished product.

In this last school year, two culinary arts students achieved industry certification. Daniel Shephard (incoming junior) and Scarlett Gwaltney (graduate) both passed the food handlers test, proving they know health and safety working conditions in the kitchen. And several students are now employed this summer in restaurants around the area.