Easy as pie: WHS Cooking Club promotes student culinary skills

By Jolene Bailey

Windham High School offers a plethora of clubs and extracurricular activities to promote engagement, responsibility, and involved citizenship in young students. But a new club this fall is about to foster a sense of community as students bond over preparing and sharing food together.

During the first meeting of the Windham High School
Cooking Club, student participants made an
apple crisp dessert. WIRESTOCK PHOTO

For the first time, WHS is offering a cooking club which meets once a month after school from 2:15 to 4 p.m. Club activities are designed to teach students a life skill that is essential to staying healthy and participants will gather and prepare a series of dishes while also learning about the science of food growing and meal preparation.

“Feeding yourself is one of the most fundamental skills of becoming an independent adult,” said Christine Fredette, WHS Cooking club advisor. “Health and wellness classes can only do so much, and some students do not choose to do culinary in a vocational program. But we believe learning to feed yourself and those around you with love is an essential skill.”

During a student's sophomore year, they have the option to sign up for vocational courses and one of those courses offered is culinary arts. In that class, students learn about food preparation, service, and presentation of meals, quantity food production, baking, table service, catering for community organizations, and cake decoration. Within that program, WHS students gain the ability to not only earn high school credits but also earn college credits. However, spots in the class are limited and fill up quickly.

This new WHS Cooking Club gives all students an opportunity to develop a basic understanding of how to cook healthy meals.

“I’m most excited about working together to instill a love of cooking and creating in the kitchen,” Fredette said. “Seeing what the students bring to this club will really make it.”

She said that as families everyday are actively getting busier, students are surrounded by fast-food options, quick and microwavable processed meals which promote nutrient-deficient foods. During health classes at WHS, nutrition is discussed, but students do not have the opportunity to put their knowledge of healthy eating into action during class time.

The club is open to any WHS student who wants to join, and any student interested in cooking. They’ll learn how to cut vegetables properly or why olive oil is preferred over vegetable oil when cooking in a pan because it has a lower smoking point temperature. Participants will learn about using a stove, how to bake in the oven and how to cook and prepare food safely.

Fredette said that the club’s first meeting on Oct. 1 established Standard Operating Procedures for students to follow in the kitchen and then they broke off into groups to find something to make for their first time together. WHS Cooking Club participants will also create a personal coat of arms to find out what they are looking for in this club experience.

Behind the scenes, Fredette says that she has put a lot of planning and preparation into the new club and expects it to be wildly popular among WHS students. The club’s purpose will focus on giving students simple instruction regarding how to prepare nutritious and tasty food.

Based on the number of student participants attending the first club meeting, Fredette said that next year the club may offer student positions such as president, vice president, and secretary for this activity.

“I’m hoping students will seek an understanding that cooking should not be seen as a chore and can be something fun,” said Fredette.

For more details about the new WHS Cooking Club you can email the advisors at mdubois@rsu14.org and cfredette@rsu14.org. <