Written by Erin Malcolm
Six high schools and four middle schools in Colorado’s El Paso County School District 49 offer several career and technical education programs to teach students practical skills in preparation for jobs in industries from agriculture to engineering to hospitality. It has been.
D 49’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program is one of them. Chef and teacher Eric Lustig leads the program at Patriot High School in Falcon, where students spend three years learning about the food and hospitality industry. The curriculum covers topics such as basic food handling and kitchen safety skills. Basic cooking and catering skills. It also includes other skills that can be applied to a career, such as culinary and business mathematics, and restaurant and hotel management concepts.
For 18-year-old Patriot High School student Kodi Lynn, the culinary program isn’t just another high school class to check off on her list before graduation. It completely shaped his career goals and put him on track for a flavorful future in the food field.
Lynn has always been fascinated by food since childhood. He said, recalling how he spent his free time watching cooking videos on YouTube and playing with his father’s bread machine. He was looking for a cooking show and it was nearby so he joined. ” And he’s glad he did.
Homeschooled at the time, Lynn enrolled in a culinary program during her freshman year of high school and eventually enrolled full-time at Patriot High School. His teacher Lustig said: “He was young and inexperienced, but very ambitious. For the first two years, Cody had every success, but just as many challenges.” , encouraged Cody to be persistent with continuous feedback in the form of revisions. “He always kept his head up and consistently improved in the kitchen and in the classroom,” Lustig said.
From the beginning, Lynn was able to convince herself that the program was the right fit for her because of the positive social environment and kindness of other students that Lustig fostered, as well as the frequent hands-on learning experiences. , it took determination to keep going.
“You don’t do much cooking the first semester,” Lin said. The early curriculum focuses on classroom basics and safety in the kitchen, including basic knife skills, safety training, and learning how to keep the kitchen clean. “There are a lot of students who stay for the first semester and then drop out,” Lin said. “But it’s very rewarding in the end. It’s worth it to cross that finish line.”
As she progressed through the curriculum, Lin’s passion for the kitchen grew. The first food lab he completed featured French “pain perdu” (known in the US as French he toast). Since then, he has looked forward to every Friday as the class learns about cuisines from around the world and prepares popular dishes from the countries they have learned.
Another highlight of Lynn’s time with the program was catering local events for the community.
“We are committed to serving the community as one of the pillars of our program,” Lustig said. “In addition to our popular monthly luncheons that we provide to area seniors, we also provide catering and banquet services to local churches and religious organizations, and organize D49 events for local residents and the Eastern Plains Chamber of Commerce.” We also offer cooking classes.”Not only for commercial members, but also for local children and youth. ”
Some of the most memorable catering events that Lynn has helped with include school district teacher weddings and school dances like proms. Lin said event organizers will select dishes from the menu. Culinary Arts students then prepare, deliver, and sometimes serve everything.
Catering opportunities create real-life food service scenarios for students to experience and learn from.
“The hardest part is learning how to move quickly and think quickly in the kitchen. I’m very realistic about how real-life kitchens actually work,” Lin said.
He said his favorite part is witnessing a quiet room full of people savoring the food he helped prepare.
“You can imagine that a room full of people can be a very, very noisy place. But the most rewarding thing is being in a room that is basically quiet,” Lin said. “That means everyone is eating your food and enjoying your food. And it’s always so nice to hear that.”
Through this program, Lynn earned multiple industry certifications including ServSafe Food Handler, ServSafe Manager, and ServSafe Alcohol Certification. “Right now, all restaurants in Colorado require at least one person to be a qualified manager to actually run the restaurant, so that’s very good,” Lin said. That’s the thing.”
Other practical content gained from this program includes personal and business financial literacy, knowledge such as how to handle taxes and calculate payroll.
“Cooking is hard, but it also teaches you how to run your own restaurant. It’s all job-related, industry-related education. It’s very helpful,” Lin said. “It basically prepares you to work in general. It doesn’t even have to be a cooking-related job.”
Now, having completed the program and nearing the end of her senior year of high school, Lynn serves as Lustig’s intern, helping other students develop the same sharp skills. His main duties as the teacher’s “right-hand man” include assisting in class by giving demonstrations and presentations, as well as helping out around the kitchen as needed.
“I have learned many skills from Lustig and have seen how he runs a kitchen. I want to pass on the knowledge that I have to my students. …Very It’s a fun place to learn. It’s a place where it’s really fun to make mistakes. It’s a very safe place to make mistakes.”
cody lynn
“I have learned many skills from Lustig and have seen how he runs a kitchen. I want to be able to understand that,” Lin said. “It’s a really fun place to learn. It’s a really fun place to make mistakes. It’s a very safe place to make mistakes.”
Lustig said Lin has developed into “a more reliable and skilled person than many of the more experienced cooks and chefs” he has worked with. And those skills will soon be put to good use outside the walls of Lustig’s kitchen.
Lin recently received her acceptance letter from the highly acclaimed Auguste Escoffier Culinary Arts School and plans to further her culinary education at the school’s Boulder campus and pursue an associate’s degree in culinary arts. He also hopes to earn an internship to study and work at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
In the long term, Lin hopes to one day pursue a career in the fine dining world as a private chef or nutritionist. Regardless of what happens, “I’m really excited about the future,” Lin said.
