- [Narrator] Students
benefit from hands-on
learning in the culinary suite,
with its new classrooms
and baking kitchen.
Baking and pastry student
Delaney Waldhauser,
says it's a big step up for
her and her fellow students.
- We all had one oven,
we all had one stove,
we all had to share and
typically it wasn't too bad
but I would take something
out of the oven that
I thought was mine and turned
out to be someone else's
and it could get frustrating
at times, for sure.
I like that here we
each have our own oven,
each have our own station,
we each have our own mixer,
so that's nice, so then I can just like,
'cause once I get going
I'm just one track mind.
- [Narrator] At the 12 stations
in the new baking kitchen,
students work in teams to
complete their assigned recipes.
The new configuration
offers a small refrigerator,
a mixer, a convection
burner, cookware and more.
Each station also gets a
large mixer and a deck oven.
This configuration allows
students to build skills
in a real world environment.
- Its preparing me by making
me realize how important
time management is and being
able to clean up after myself
and work under pressure
and work with other people
and just how to do
everything kinda quickly
and precisely which I don't think a lot of
others schools would
give me that experience.
- [Narrator] The new facility
and equipment will allow
for students to be taught
on the same machinery
they would see in a large hotel or bakery.
At the center of the renovation
is the student dining lab.
Aspiring chefs like Robin Jean Baptiste,
gain valuable experience
in the production kitchen.
- I love it, 'cause I
work in a restaurant now,
but the new kitchens are
definitely much better
than my job and I love
using the new equipment
and using like equipment that, ya know,
you wouldn't typically
find in just any kitchen,
especially because it's expensive.
So I think it's one of those things where,
it allows me to gain experience here
but also in the world
where if I'm using the same
equipment out in my workforce
than I'll be able to say,
"Okay well, this is how you use it."
And I can train other people.
- [Narrator] The hospitality
students are responsible
for setting up the restaurant,
interacting with the
customers and filling orders.
Josephina Kenny is new to the program
but not to the industry.
- Looking at the kitchens and
just the kitchens for what
they have to offer for the
culinary students, is amazing.
And then having this, this like,
mock restaurant is really
great because I've been
in fine dining for three and a half years.
So that's taught me a lot,
so that's it's really good
going more in depth into it and
learning about it so
having this for us to be
more hands on in this
program is what we need.
- [Narrator] Serving guests
in the dining lab helps
students plan their pathway to success.
Students from multiple
classes work together
to make meals and host events,
all wonderful practice
for their future careers.
- Three classes in one.
It was the food prep two,
the meanings and conventions
and my intro to hospitality class.
Working together and
executing it was really great.
It was great to meet them,
it was great to see how
we all worked together because
we're all in this program
and we'll be working
together again in the future.
