HS Culinary Class teaching cooking for BOXED Mac & Cheese

toystory1130

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When my daughter signed up for this class she was excited as she wants to be a Chef. Yesterday I asked what was going on in Culinary and she told me they were cooking boxed mac & cheese. REALLY??? REALLY?? Seems the teacher doesn't get ANY budget for food and must pay out of her own pocket. How is this even possible??? The other classes get the books they need why not give the teacher the CORE items she would need to teach a good class?? I remember at least learning Chicken Cacciatore when I was in there. JEEZ...
 
When my daughter signed up for this class she was excited as she wants to be a Chef. Yesterday I asked what was going on in Culinary and she told me they were cooking boxed mac & cheese. REALLY??? REALLY?? Seems the teacher doesn't get ANY budget for food and must pay out of her own pocket. How is this even possible??? The other classes get the books they need why not give the teacher the CORE items she would need to teach a good class?? I remember at least learning Chicken Cacciatore when I was in there. JEEZ...

I feel for that teacher. And I'll bet the various sports coaches get more than their share of cash to pay for "essentials". Schools have priorities.... Ugh.
 

Honestly if this is the case I don't know why they even offer the course. My exchange student is taking the cooking course in our local high school. Some things she tells me they make are pizza, cupcakes, pancakes, granola bars, cookies etc. Nothing fancy and all "kid pleasers" but at least nothing comes from a box, it's all made from scratch. Time is also a factor. They have to be able to prep, cook, clean up and eat it within the 80min period. They also don't cook every day, only twice a week I think. The rest of the time they learn about nutrition and cooking skills/techniques ect.
 
I feel for that teacher. And I'll bet the various sports coaches get more than their share of cash to pay for "essentials". Schools have priorities.... Ugh.

All of the sports around us have to fundraise to get equipment and such.....

Most teachers end up buying supplies out of pocket. Blame the tax payers....

Maybe suggest that the kids bring in recipes they want to learn to cook and then each child take a turn making a dish, including supplies?
 
I feel for that teacher. And I'll bet the various sports coaches get more than their share of cash to pay for "essentials". Schools have priorities.... Ugh.

:sad2:

At least around here the "sports coaches" don't get anything. The athletes get the old uniforms. Coaches get nothing and provide their own. When I coached basketball last year I even had to provide my own basketballs because the ones at the school were all flat and wouldn't hold air. I also know several football and soccer coaches and they have the same story. Providing their own supplies. Lets also remember the athletes also have to PAY to be part of the team. This covers umpires/ref's and other supplies (what other supplies, I have no idea). No worries though, you go right ahead and stereo-type and keep making assumptions.

As for the boxed mac-n-cheese, I wouldn't be too thrilled about it being a lesson either HOWEVER it is HS culinary class and not college. You'd be surprised how many kids have no idea how to NOT work their way around a kitchen. If it can't be microwaved, they have no idea what to do.
 
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GOOD mac and cheese does not come from a box.

I wasn't talking about GOOD mac and cheese. I was talking about the mac and cheese that is cheap, comes in a box, and might be useful for a college student with limited funds. Really didn't think it would start a good versus bad mac and cheese debate.
 
DD took a culinary class in HS. The students had to bring in the ingredients for the cooking projects. A lot of the teaching was on food safety and proper food prep.
 
When my son took the class they each brought in ingredients for cooking projects. I think he was responsible for two recipes total. If we didn't have the ingredients at home we just took him to the store to purchase what was needed. It actually taught him more than just cooking now that I think about it.
 
Honestly if this is the case I don't know why they even offer the course. My exchange student is taking the cooking course in our local high school. Some things she tells me they make are pizza, cupcakes, pancakes, granola bars, cookies etc. Nothing fancy and all "kid pleasers" but at least nothing comes from a box, it's all made from scratch. Time is also a factor. They have to be able to prep, cook, clean up and eat it within the 80min period. They also don't cook every day, only twice a week I think. The rest of the time they learn about nutrition and cooking skills/techniques ect.

This sounds very similar to the "Foods" course my DS took. It was very focussed on learning their way around a kitchen and various beginner-level food preparation/cooking techniques. I thought it was very worthwhile (as high school "options" go) and interestingly, boys outnumbered girls in the class by about 5:1. FWIW, all of the necessary materials and ingredients were supplied by the school but I imagine it was the teacher that had to shop for them and ensure the kitchen was properly stocked.
 
Are you sure the other teachers actually get books? I've heard that plenty of schools haven't been getting funds for them. Supplies seem to be the last thing on the budget list.

It is a shame that they are offering a course that doesn't have the means to actually be taught correctly.

You might want to suggest to the teacher to try to get funds through DonorsChoose. http://www.donorschoose.org/

I've given money the last few years to help teachers get books for classrooms near me. Lots of teachers request funds for things other than books to get what they need for their students.
 
That's a real shame. My son took a foods course and they used shortening for baking because butter is too expensive however putting the burden of buying the food on the teacher is unfair. Maybe a bunch of parents could donate some basics?
 
Why Blame the tax payer. What the heck are we, this unlimited ATM for the schools. How about blame administration and spending. Is teaching to cook an essential in learning. Teaching Nutrition is something for a Health related course track. That teacher who is making mac and cheese from a box is making the same amount as teacher teaching calculus for an AP Course. If the school wants to offer a cooking class than make sure that the students who take it have to bring in their own supplies.
 
The culinary program at my kid's school doesn't have a budget for supplies either, although the athletic budget is pretty large.

The culinary students spend class time making pies and other baked goods to sell in order to money for supplies. They do have an actual curriculum and have learned a lot, but much of class time has to be spent making the same key lime or Boston Cream pie over and over for money.

They also do the baking for many school events, prom, signing ceremonies for athletes, etc. I believe they make some money for that also.
 
When my son took culinary, they made foods like risotto and pastries. They funded themselves by selling food to the students at lunch (they had an area in the cafeteria and sold egg rolls etc)
 
If your daughter is interested in becoming a chef then she can still cook at home. When my son was in high school he was responsible for one meal a week. He had to give me the meal and ingredients needed before I went grocery shopping. I would suggest she start looking at some recipes on Pinterest.
 
I wasn't talking about GOOD mac and cheese. I was talking about the mac and cheese that is cheap, comes in a box, and might be useful for a college student with limited funds. Really didn't think it would start a good versus bad mac and cheese debate.

?
 
This sounds very similar to the "Foods" course my DS took. It was very focussed on learning their way around a kitchen and various beginner-level food preparation/cooking techniques. I thought it was very worthwhile (as high school "options" go) and interestingly, boys outnumbered girls in the class by about 5:1. FWIW, all of the necessary materials and ingredients were supplied by the school but I imagine it was the teacher that had to shop for them and ensure the kitchen was properly stocked.

That's a real shame. My son took a foods course and they used shortening for baking because butter is too expensive however putting the burden of buying the food on the teacher is unfair. Maybe a bunch of parents could donate some basics?

This is similar to a cooking course I took in HS. The school supplied all the ingredients, but no butter for making cookies, just shortening. Giant tubs of food service brand. And the teacher often vetoed suggestions as too costly. I don't know how the ingredients were procured, maybe the teacher shopped for them out of a budget, or requisitioned things from the cafeteria, or paid out of pocket and got reimbursed later.

My class ratio was about 4 girls for each boy, which is probably the main reason I took the course. ;)


(P.S. My junior high was one of those new-age experimental type of schools in the early 1970s. All boys had to take at least one quarter of Home Ec, pardon me, "Domestic Arts." And all girls took at least one "Industrial Arts" shop course. We cooked some simple things and I made a necktie in sewing. My father was concerned that the school was turning me into a "sissy fruitcake." )
 
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