Blake walked into the kitchen this morning at 05h55 to start his preparation for his final in-class culinary arts exam. Blake also was given the responsibility of designing the settings in the room for this lunchtime meal. He said, on Monday when he was given this job, "I'm not too sure about our placements. What can I do differently, Chef? I want something exciting." My response was to take a recent issue of 'Panorama' magazine and start tearing out the pages (lovely, full-colour calendered pages). "Here, use these whole pages as placemats". He did, after playing with the idea for a while. And it looked like this:
The student chefs had submitted their dishes for the exam.
Then, it was time to prepare and cook. The results were just delicious in almost every case. We had a full room of staff come and enjoy the hard work, and at the end everyone got to eat. We left the dishes piled up to heaven for tomorrow (coming in and cleaning up is part of the exam too!), and we will be very, very busy for several hours in the dish pit.
Special thanks for a very successful semester needs to go out to three people, each with very different roles. In alphabetical order then ...
Jenn Martone, who is a member of our school staff. Jenn works intensively with students who require specialised support, and while doing so with great competance she takes hundreds and hundreds of photos in the kitchen each semester. Many thanks, Jenn, for all the delightful support again this semester for ALL our students through your photos and good humour, and of our students needing a bit of extra assistance and guidance. You're a pro.
Noah Bardwell is my former student. When Noah has time in his schedule he comes back into the kitchen and volunteers to assist however he can. Lots of days he is doing un-glamorous grunt-work, or in the dish pit, or helping organize or sort the fridge and freezers. He does this out of the goodness of his heart, and he is greatly appreciated.
Ruby Trostin has been a volunteer in this program for 10 years now. It may be longer ... we have both forgotten. Ruby has helped design the entire program with her observations and insights, and Ruby is my other brain when I run out of ideas or need feedback. Ruby, the students love you to bits, and respect you highly. Me too. Thanks for all the years of your hard work and dedication to our students' growth.
Now ... time for some photos. Congratulations to everyone who came and worked hard and produced to the best of your abilities.
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