Mixing It Up in The Kitchen

Posted Date: 09/08/2015

Mixing it up in the Kitchen

Ariel Inman

The grill sizzled, the oil popping as another piece of meat was placed on the rack. Orders were shouted across the room as timers beeped and pots clanged against each other in the mad rush to complete the catering order. The sound of the knife clanging against the chopping board in a repetitive rhythm punctuated the shrill shriek of the kettle.

Hudson High School’s new commercial kitchen is furnished with industrial state of the art appliances that can be found in professional restaurants.  With this new asset, Hudson students interested in cooking or restaurant management are provided with a unique opportunity to gain experience and certifications in the food industry.

“We want to prepare them for the workforce,” Casey Gerard, Culinary instructor, said, “So that’s why we got the industrial kitchen.”

Food science and culinary students are excited for the chance to work in such an advanced environment.

“We are able to do a lot more in this kitchen,” Haley Hernandez, senior, said, “It’s faster and it makes it easier for us.”

Culinary students will be able to receive certificates such as a Food Handler Certificate, a Servsafe Certificate, and an additional two certificates with the Proface curriculum. Certificates such as these could result in scholarships that will help the students progress to college.

“The new kitchen is a lot more efficient and faster and will help us with catering jobs and teacher luncheons.” Lauren Mott, senior, said, “It’s a lot easier to get things done faster and we can cook in larger quantities.”

Over the summer, with the support and financial aid of the school board, Mrs. Gerard applied for grants and surveyed several state of the art kitchens to find the best blueprint for her students.

“I went and visited schools in the Houston area,” Gerard said, “We looked and found schools that had the programs I wanted then Mr. Walters coordinated the visits so that we could see exactly what we wanted. We didn’t want to be like any other school. We wanted the best of all the schools.”