By Heather Graves
Editor
HOWARD-SUAMICO – Armed with measuring cups, flour and mixers, the professional culinary arts students at Bay Port High School put their skills to the test for this year’s Taste of the Villages event benefiting the Giving Tree – baking 450 cupcakes for its attendees.
“Making 12 cupcakes is a lot different than making 450,” Amanda Gabryszek, family and consumer sciences teacher at Bay Port High School, said.
She said though numbers vary from year to year, about 500 students participate in one of the three levels of culinary arts offerings.
Gabryszek said the classes provide students with a skill set that can be used in class, at home and in a potential career beyond high school.
“We all eat, so there’s always going to be a job,” she said. “It can take students anywhere they want to go… I think this class is kind of a structured career path for them. It’s just, the opportunities are endless.”
Gabryszek said the cupcake order from the Taste of the Villages event is just one of the opportunities students get to help expand their skills in the kitchen.
“We’ve done some other fundraising events for the district,” she said. “We’ve catered meals at the district office for various groups that have come in, from senators and other legislature members, to just other teachers.”
Gabryszek said it gives students the opportunity to cook for someone other than themselves.
“For a lot of students, they’re at that point where they’re in this class of, ‘Do I really want to pursue something in culinary?’” she said. “So for a lot of them, it’s continuing on in the passion that they have, so they can see what a job could potentially be like, just on a small scale… So I’ve just been thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to do some of those things, because without the community you can’t do that.”
Gabryszek said it’s fun to see her students switch gears from just making things in the classroom for themselves to making something for a client.
“When we’re just in labs doing stuff for ourselves, the focus is on what they like and then, when you see them totally switch and become more professional about it, it’s super fun to see as a teacher,” she said. “Them being able to kind of translate what they know to some other level. So they do step it up a notch. It’s way more precise…. The consistency of their product, and their attention to detail just goes from A to Z, from really good to even better. I think they appreciate seeing themselves achieve good results.”
Gabryszek said she has had previous students touch base about their career in the culinary world sparked by their time in the classroom at Bay Port.
“It’s super fun when they do reach back out,” she said. “I’ve got a couple right now that work together on Broadway. One is a sous chef there, and then another is working right alongside her. I’ve got students who are currently at Fox Valley Technical College, or have gone through the program. I’ve got kids who are working at family restaurants and they’re doing it. That’s a great thing to see, to work for – those of them who really did pursue it… They’re doing what they wanted to and really seeing that full picture.”