Day after day, teens and teachers at Douglass High School in Columbia, Mo., passed by a storage closet stuffed with old supplies and materials. One of the teachers, though, remembered that “closet’s” history: It was the old culinary classroom before a new career center opened to serve the culinary arts needs of area high schools. That teacher, Josh Bass, and a pair of peers took back the classroom, turning it into a catering hub for students who were seeking a more hands-on way of learning.
Today, students are turning out everything from barbecue to empanadas to cookies, as well as marketing materials to advertise their business. “What I like about the class is we actually get to do hands-on stuff all the time, and we get to cater to other places, not just at school, but we get to go to other places,” student Aijania Christian, 16, told Catherine Martin of the Columbia Daily Tribune.
Douglass High School sophomore James Covington shows his assistant principal how to make empanadas in the school's Columbia, Mo., catering class. (Photo by DON SHRUBSHELL, Columbia Daily Tribune)
