As I am sure most of you are aware, I am a culinary teacher
at Warren Technical High School in DeKalb County School System and I have just
started summer break. Like every teacher in this field I was counting down the
days ‘till summer break and eagerly anticipating the release of the students. During
these past couple weeks of break I had an opportunity to reflect on what my
students in my culinary program actually participated in and conquered this
year as culinary students. To give you insight on the type of students I teach
on an everyday basis, they are students with special needs and disabilities
that require adjusted curriculum to fit their IEP (Individualized Education
Plan) and constant supervision monitoring behavioral disorders. These students
come from all over DeKalb County and are placed in programs that they choose to
be in, which is nice. These students have an attention span of a child,
spelling and writing skills of a first grader and attitudes filled with raging
hormones. But with all of that, these
students have hearts of gold and minds wanting to learn.
Another great benefit of Warren Technical High School is
that the set up is vocational minded and the students are able to venture out
into the real world on Wednesday through Friday to participate in work base
learning opportunities at designated work sites such as the Grand Hyatt,
Evergreen Resort and Northside Hospital just to name a few. At these sites our
students learn how to perform various actions and responsibilities related to
the field of study they are interested in becoming a professional employee
while they receive real life exposure to that certain industry.
One of the aspects of my job is to prepare the students for
these work base opportunities which hopefully will lead to employment with that
company or serve as a reference from that company to assist in another job opportunity
down the road. My culinary students at Warren Technical High School also study
and take the Serve Safe Management certification test which gives that
individual knowledge and skills needed to be a manager in the hospitality
industry. The Serve Safe Management certification test is not easy and is
usually administered to students exiting high school that plan on attending a culinary
school or are in colleges that relate to the hospitality industry. Out of all
my students in my culinary program, 10 passed with scores high enough to obtain
the serve Safe management certification certificate. This will benefit them in
their employment success and can be used as a resume booster. This alone was
something that opened my eyes to the possibilities of my students and is amazing to have so many students with disabilities pass this challenging exam.
I believe my school, Warren Technical High School, had the most students in the County to pass the Serve Safe Management certification exam.
As I continue to instruct my culinary students in the art of
culinary skills and proper food handling expectations, Warren Technical High
School has a lot of functions and fundraisers that require my student’s
assistance throughout the year. A break in instruction can be tough because it
requires a lot of organization and teamwork to keep on task. I work with a very
strong team of teachers and Para-Professionals who also believe in our students
as much as I do and work around the clock to help them be successful. I could
not do it alone and it is because of our team work that we are as successful at
Warren Technical High School as we continue to push the limits of our students
in the culinary field.
Each team member is expected to participate in the extracurricular
activities that our program is involved in. Expectation is the word used in
this job requirement but each teacher is excited and open to any extracurricular
event or extra mile that we must go in order to further the education of our
students. I am honored to have such a
wonderful supporting cast and dedicated queen, my principal Carla Jones, to
help our program be the best it can be and help better the future for our
students.
To give you an idea of what exactly I am talking about take
a second and look at what we have done at the high school level with our students
and the tasks and functions they have completed with flying colors. Each year
at Warren Technical High School we have two business advisory luncheons held in
the middle of each semester. The business advisory luncheon is a time for
Warren Technical High Schools’ financial supporters, foundation members, job
site coordinators, DeKalb County board members, including the new
superintendent, Legislators of Georgia, and family and friends to come and see
what the students of Warren Technical High School are achieving and the future
plans of each program at Warren Technical High School. This event gives our
students an opportunity to shine in the field that they are in, especially our
students because our culinary program prepares the lunch for our guests at the
business advisory luncheon which we have done with the up most class and
professionalism. During this luncheon our culinary students serve 150-200
people a plated meal that consists of 5 components followed by a dessert as
well, in about an hour. Many of you may say “so what” but to my industry
professionals and Chefs reading this, you are aware that it is difficult to
produce that many dishes in that short of time frame and is looked upon as a
successful service when done properly. Not only did my students produce that
number of dishes in that short period of time, but the kitchen space is limited
as well because the lunch ladies have their responsibilities for feeding the
students lunch as well. It is a
symphony of food production when the business advisory luncheon is being held
and is a sight that should be seen by all.
This year our students participated in two events for the
Fernbank Science Center that held a reception and an honorary program for the
top 50 scientists in the world at their Fernbank facility. Keep in mind that
this facility is a museum of artifacts and records of historical events that are collected
throughout the years and put on display for the general public and for students
in the surrounding areas to learn from. There is NO KITCHEN! My
culinary students prep the food at Warren Technical High school and then
transport the food to the Fernbank Science Center where the students finish the
preparation of the food and plated the cuisine for the 500 guests. That’s right,
500 guests attended this evening’s event and as a team we conquer this event
with only 15 students. Now that is something my students should hang their toque on because I have worked in this industry for a very long time and for the
number of guest we served that night, most restaurant caterers would have
brought double the amount of people to help with that specific event. This
event was done with such precision and grace that my students were asked to do
a follow up reception with Fernbank Science Center later that year and the menu
consisted of 19 different complex menu items on a tiered buffet line that had
an arrangement of service stations, which the culinary students worked
throughout the night. These students once again performed with such grace and excitement. Once again this was another event that made me realize
why I love what I do and who I am doing it for.
My culinary students have done events at Warren Technical
High School for the new superintendent and her board members of DeKalb County.
My students have created culinary delights for the House of Representatives and
Senate members of Georgia that left our guests with the feeling of having just dined in a
five star restaurant in France. The culinary students prepared a brunch
consisting of eggs Benedict Oscar and apple stuffed French toast for the
Dunwoody woman’s club and 150 Administrative Assistants of DeKalb County
enjoyed a 10 menu item buffet spread that even to this day I receive emails
thanking me and my students for the time and expertise for this event. These
are just a few of the events my amazing students have done because
there are countless more times my students have been called upon and they have
exceeded the expectations of the guests as well as me and my team.
To finish this up, I have a set of students who are my top
students who participate on my competition culinary team that travels around
the county and state to competitions in various arenas. These competitions are
held every year and include every school in the county that has traditional college
bound students. Most think that students with disabilities and handicaps would
not stand a chance against students that are of higher learning abilities and
have normal functioning capabilities. That is why I love my job and where I am
at! My culinary students participated in a regional competition in FCCLA
against some of the top schools in our region in 2012 and out of 15 schools my
students placed third. Two of my culinary team students have competed for
scholarship opportunities at the Art Institute of Atlanta and have won honorable
mentioned. One of my culinary team students competed in the NAACP
culinary competition in 2011 and won first in the State of Georgia and went to
Nationals in California and won third out of the whole nation. Another
culinary team student, took his skills to the CTI competition in 2012 and
brought home the gold in his event and still holds his head up high about this
accomplishment.
You see, these students are the reason why I get up and look
forward to going to work every day. The students at Warren Technical High
School are capable of anything that a traditional student can do. They just
need an opportunity to prove it to the world. To watch these students grow,
mature and become successful is why I chose to go into the educational field
and especially at Warren Technical High School. I am here to tell the world that these students are
something special and can do anything you or I can do with the right guidance
and an even playing field. Yes, the pay sucks, there is tons of paper work, unread
emails to check and you always have somebody checking in to make sure you are
following protocol, but at the end of the day, the feeling you have about what
you are doing on a day to day basis is worth every headache. I love to give
back and to give back to these students and watch them be successful and
excited about what they are doing is the reason why I can say....
I love my job, now can you say that?
