A keen teacher, willing students and innovation is the recipe for success at the Raymond High School foods program.
“The kids are really stepping up to the plate,” instructor Becky Rompain says of the program that has expanded from beyond a foods course to catering. “It has grown and the kids are positive and willing so it’s actually really fun.”
Each Thursday students cooked themed lunches for the public, students and for take-out at the Comet Cafe in the high school foyer.
Before Christmas students prepared a turkey dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, buns and pumpkin pie tarts and every seat in the room was filled, not including the many take-out orders that went out, as well as meals to the less fortunate.
“These kids have worked really hard,” Rompain says, pointing out the catering aspect of the course is evolving.
Not only are the students learning important life skills and techniques to cooking and catering, money raised from the lunch program allows them to have more advantages to preparing different items for the menu, she explains.
“We can basically go and try anything. They come up with ideas and they get to cook whatever they’d like just because we have the funds to do it — not unlimited funds, but more than we’d normally have for a foods class. It is fun.”
“We do it more for the experience of doing it, the cooking, the planning, and they really push doing more things than they’ve ever done.”
Rompain points out they now advertise that the public is welcome.
And while they never know how many people are coming to the school for a Thursday lunch they usually make enough meals for 150 to 200 people.
“This Thursday is a big seller because it’s chicken strips and fries. Last time we had enough for 200 and we ran out so this time we will probably have enough for 250. The kids love it.”