STAFFORD — Eleven years ago, Stafford High School’s traditional Home Ec/FACS program and its residential-style kitchen was similar to many other high schools in the state. 

That was before applying for and receiving a Rigorous Program of Study grant from the State of Kansas and a two-year effort by the USD 349 Board of education to develop curriculum and revamp kitchen space. In the works was a Hospitality, Tourism, Restaurant and Event Management (HTREM) curriculum pathway for the district.

“The home-style individual kitchens were removed, and the classroom gutted and completely remodeled into a modern commercial kitchen,” said Kim Unruh, culinary arts instructor at SHS. “With the support of administration and the board of education, the vision of offering culinary classes to high school students became a reality.”

The RPOS grant allowed the school to develop an innovative program that was a cooperative effort between the Family and Consumer Science and Business departments. Natalie Clark, the business and entrepreneurship teacher at the time, wrote and helped administer the grant, and developed what was called the 60/40 White Whole Wheat Project in conjunction with

the Stafford County Flour Mills, industry advisers, the FCS teacher, and school counselor Denise Dickson. 

Unruh, the current culinary teacher, is now in her 10th year at Stafford, after transitioning from teaching fourth grade at Stafford for eight years.

“Part of the challenge of building the program was finding a curriculum that met the State Competencies for the pathway. After researching various curriculums, the group decided to purchase the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ‘Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary Arts’ curriculum,” Unruh said. “This, along with the sometimes very intense professional development for the teachers, helped ensure that students would be taught valuable skills that can follow them to a career in the culinary arts and/or give them a strong foundation for the ability to cook for themselves.”

Scholarships from the National Restaurant Association’s Education Foundation were used to fund the additional professional development after required three trainings were completed. The Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association also provides professional development opportunities, as well as the Kansas Center for Career and Technical Education. The professional development component was essential, considering the teachers involved had no experience utilizing the curriculum and commercial equipment, Unruh said.

A growing program

Stafford’s total enrollment of 58 includes 37 high school students enrolled in one of six culinary classes. The largest class this year is Culinary Essentials, with a total of 17 students enrolled in the first-year class, Unruh noted. 

Beginners start with an online course and exam to receive their Food Handler certification, in which students learn about safety and sanitation, from minimal food temperature to food storage. Senior students go on to complete their Food Manager’s certification, designed for restaurant management.

Culinary Essentials students begin learning knife safety and how to produce the basic knife cuts, including the Julienne, Batonnet, Brunoise, Chiffonade, and Rondelle, as well as the small, medium, and large dice, and mincing. 

Students also learn how to read a recipe, accurately measure and scale recipes, along with various cooking techniques for a large variety of foods. Students will be preparing chicken stock in the near future, utilizing the vegetable scraps from the knife skills unit, as well as the chicken carcasses from the chicken fabrication unit completed in the Culinary Arts II class. 

The stock is then used in producing several of the five mother sauces, as well as using the fabricated chicken to prepare dishes in all of the culinary classes. A popular tradition includes preparing Cheesy Potato Soup, served in a freshly baked Bread Bowl. The soup uses many of the vegetables that were fabricated in the knife skills unit.

As the level of the course increases, so do the skills that are learned. Students in Culinary I and II learn which herbs and spices complement various ingredients, as well as the cooking techniques that are recommended, with the end goal that they will become more comfortable cooking without recipes. This year is the first for the new Culinary Arts Work Based Learning class that is assisting in preparing food for the school’s concession stand.

The Baking and Pastries classes are very fortunate to have the support of Stafford County Flour Mills that donates all-purpose flour to the program. Many bakers know that Hudson Cream Flour is preferred for baking and contributes to producing awesome baked goods. Students enrolled in this course prepare anything from various types of cookies, quick and yeast bread products, Pâte à Choux pastries, fruit and cream pies, and layer cakes, to more specialty baked goods including macarons and chocolates.

A competitive edge

The Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association holds the ProStart Culinary and Restaurant Management State Competition each year in March. “The event brings competitors from across the state to Wichita to compete by developing, preparing and presenting a gourmet three-course meal in 60 minutes, using only two butane burners. no electricity, and no running water,” Unruh said.

“The biggest challenge is developing the menu with items that can be prepared under those constraints,” she said. Students must also break down the cost of each menu item, photograph each course, and finally, prepare it in front of a live audience and numerous judges watching their every move. 

Stafford has competed in the culinary competition seven times since Unruh began teaching in the program. Students may only compete on the ProStart team for two years and must develop and prepare an original menu each time. Stafford has been the smallest school competing in the event since Unruh began bringing her teams. They have won awards for individual and team knife skills.

They placed fourth in the 2021-2022 culinary competition. “To some, this may not feel like a major accomplishment, but considering Stafford is competing against schools including Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Maize and Wichita, I’m very pleased with their performance,” she said. 

At this time, there is no selection process to get into the Culinary program.

“I also love it when a student is successful in preparing a challenging recipe,” Unruh said. “Of course we have had our share of kitchen ‘disasters,’ however, those are turned into learning experiences as we analyze the failure and how to prevent it from happening in the future.”