Career and Technical Education Spotlight

Culinary Arts quickly became one of Sierra Vista High School student’s favorite electives. The program teaches students how to cook basic foods to prepare for their future as chefs. Culinary lasts four years; Culinary I and II focus on the basics of cooking while Culinary III and IV become more challenging and advanced courses for the students who continue the class. 

Julie Baggot and Dylan Hinkle teach culinary arts at Sierra Vista. Baggot and Hickle work hard to ensure that all of their students can gain all the knowledge possible while having fun. Culinary provides many benefits for students who take the elective. Hinkle shares, “Students can gain skills such as Critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, and problem solving.” fellow culinary teacher, Julie Baggot, states “Teamwork, communication, working with people they may not like, math, science, reading, and writing.” Culinary provides many benefits and can help students obtain knowledge on cooking that they may not have known before. 

Another great beneficial factor that culinary provides is preparing students for their future. Hinkle states, “Students who take culinary can succeed in life because the skills taught in culinary are life skills- everyone must understand food preparation so they can eat healthy, nutritious meals as they grow into adulthood.” 

Sierra Vista High School students love culinary arts with many students rushing for a spot in the class in the beginning of the year because of how quickly it fills up. Valeria Guajardo, a culinary student at Sierra Vista High School says, “other students should take this class because they can learn a lot of things like how to use a knife properly and measure ingredients right but they can also have a lot of fun while cooking and baking.”

Baggot and Hinkle have created a social environment in the culinary classroom. Culinary requires and involves teamwork and social skills. Another culinary student, Camila Varela shares that she likes culinary because she gets to eat food and learn about stuff in the kitchen while being with her friends. 

As a new fundraiser culinary students sell beignets and burgers from the movie “Good Burger” with the exact recipe straight from the movie. These burgers and beignets are being freshly cooked and baked straight from the culinary classroom. These will be sold at all three lunches for $10 until November 30th.