RISD EDUCATORS’ CORNER Editor’s Note: In each issue of Richardson Life Magazine, we highlight individuals who are making a difference in the lives of Richardson Independent School District students. If you would like to nominate someone to be showcased in this section of RLM, email pmotte@hylogroup.com.

RISD Culinary Arts Programs

By Jason Philyaw, RISD Communications Specialist

The Culinary Arts programs at Richardson and Pearce High Schools are providing students the ultimate in hands-on experiences. Students are getting their hands dirty prepping and cooking and plating and serving dishes to teachers, administrators, fellow students and the general public.

In late April, about a dozen RHS students were at ACE Hardware serving pulled pork quesadillas and smoked buffalo wings to residents. Chef Devin Niederhauser, who runs the RHS Culinary Arts Magnet, which has 76 students this year, said the students ran out of wings that Saturday at ACE as they ended up serving about 100 community members. He knows preparing food is just one part of the industry and that students need to be good communicators as well.

“Freshman year, we’re providing them with a base of knowledge about different cuts of meats so they know the difference between a lamb shank and a lamb chop and how to prepare both while also teaching knife skills, but we’re also teaching them about food nutrition and how to shop for themselves,” Chef Dev said. “They’re going off to college soon and I want them to understand how a whole chicken, as opposed to a few chicken fingers and fries, can provide them with four or five meals at half the price. I want them making fiscally sound decisions about nutrition while also enjoying the process of cooking.”

Junior Yodha Ghattamaneni likes the freedom of expression when working in a kitchen. She took culinary courses at North Junior High and has now been in the program for five years. “Chef allows us to try different things and really express our identity through food,” she said.

Sophomore Liliana Cardona said the hands-on aspect of the kitchen helps her. “I’m not really a book learner,” she said. “So, working with my hands and learning through failure, learning by trying things over and over is a great process for me. I feel like if you show effort, Chef notices and helps show you where the dish went wrong and how to make it better the next time. I really feel like you get out of it what you put into it.”

The culinary arts program enables students to gain industry-based certifications through groups such as the American Meat Science Association.

Sophomore Archer Dickey said the food handler certificate he received as a freshman helped him land a summer job as a line cook at a resort near his grandparents’ house in Wisconsin.

RHS sophomore Chris Jones said he was initially motivated to apply for the culinary magnet because of the real world experiences students gain from working in a kitchen, coupled with the opportunity to work as a team and learn from others. “One specific example of working as a team in a high-paced environment is our grab and go’s that make up our junior year finals,” Jones said. “As a group, we have to work as a whole to communicate and execute multiple dishes to sell and present.”

Other examples of the fast-paced, change-on-the-fly environment that students are engaging in are the on-campus events they cater. At one event this year, students prepped a full menu of modern French cuisine for 120 people and closer to 175 showed up. The sophomores were preparing the tiramisu and crème brûlée.

“Chef came back and said, ‘We need 50 more of everything.’ We had to go next door to use the equipment in the Food Sciences room. When I got in there, I was able to take a breath and step away from the stress of needing to make it all, but I was also able to realize that somehow we were going to get it done,” Liliana said.

The same excitement surrounds the Pearce Culinary Program. According to Jeremy Tilly, Culinary Arts teacher at Pearce, “Our program is showing dramatic growth since the opening of its new top-of-the-line Culinary Kitchen at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year!” Upper level students at Pearce have gone through units on Italian cuisine, during which they learned how to make pasta, focaccia bread, and pizza, all from scratch. They then learned to make dumplings, stir-fry, and fried rice during their Asian cuisine unit, again all from scratch.

Like their RHS cohorts, Pearce students complete industry-based certifications as part of the process, including Food Handler’s permits and Meat Cookery certifications. Says Tilly, “Students put together a few staff meals and also decorated cookies and prepared various desserts around the holidays for staff, all in support of the program. We have done Food Truck Wars with a special guest speaker, Cupcake Wars with special guest judges, and a pumpkin carving contest around Halloween. It has been an exciting year, and we are looking forward to continuing this growth in the future!”

It appears that RHS and Pearce students are getting a lot done in their culinary arts magnet classes.