BRADENTON, Fla. — Jacque Allen has been leading the culinary program at Southeast High School for nine years.
She says she was a professional chef who wanted to change careers before she got into education.
“I thought this would be a good way to give back, help these kids, maybe be a positive influence in their life,” said Allen.
What You Need To Know
- Jacque Allen has been leading the culinary program at Southeast High School for nine years
- She’s passing her knowledge to her students and teaching them skills that she hopes will help them for years
- Do you know an amazing educator? Nominate them to be our next A+ Teacher by filling out the form on the side of this page
She’s passing her knowledge to her students and teaching them skills that she hopes will help them for years to come.
“When they go off to college or when they start to live on their own, you have to know how to cook,” said Allen. “I want them to learn how to eat healthier, (know) how to make stuff.”
Her students are learning everything from sanitation to knife safety. Allen is even teaching them how to run a kitchen, and they practice their skills by cooking lunch for teachers and staff at the school.
Allen says her students learn how to make recipes from scratch, and some of the food they’re using comes from a garden at the school. The culinary students help run the garden and care for the fruit and vegetable plants.
This is the first year the students have grown food, and Allen says they clean the garden and keep track of each plant, picking the vegetables once they’re ready.
“We’re pretty much right now doing farm-to-table for all our lettuce and tomatoes,” said Allen.
They plan to harvest more plants as they learn more about gardening.
Allen said her students also learned how to cater events where they’re often feeding 200 people at a time. This past weekend, they participated in the annual chili cook off in Parrish.