Robbinsville High offering new culinary curriculum
Robbinsville – The Career and Technical Education Teacher Department at Robbinsville High School recently threw an open house to celebrate the school’s new state-of-the-art commercial classroom.
The new facility will allow students to experience what it is truly like to work in a professional kitchen, preparing them for careers in the hospitality industry, a significant and growing part of the local economy.
“I am extremely proud to be a teacher at Robbinsville High School,” said Lorie Waldroup. “Our department is doing great things to prepare students to be career and secondary education-ready after graduation from high school.”
The new classroom is modeled after a functioning professional kitchen, which will allow Waldroup to teach her students “the way a commercial kitchen really works.”
With her decades of experience in the hospitality industry, Waldroup certainly knows how a real professional kitchen operates. Her family ran the old Phillips Restaurant for nearly twenty years, and she brings those years of hands-on experience to the classroom.
Waldroup’s enthusiasm for the new classroom is shared by parents and students alike.
“It has been a great experience learning the differences in the commercial and the home kitchen
and getting to know the different equipment that is needed,” said student Brianna Bailey.
According to student Adrienne Bollinger, the new classroom is a “great opportunity to get hands-on experience for the kids who want to go into the culinary field.”
Parent Annette Ensley agrees.
“This new classroom will mean that kids have an opportunity to learn skills that can help them get a job in the food industry,” said Ensley. “They will be much more employable with the skills they learn in this classroom.”
The students are preparing for a field that is on the rise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for culinary specialists will rise by nine percent by 2024, with 1.7 million new jobs expected to open up at the national level by 2025. At the state level, the hospitality/food industry already employs 13 percent of North Carolinians, with that number expected to reach 14.5 percent by 2026, growth which would add 69,900 jobs to our economy.
“So many of our students who don’t go to a 4-year college after graduation join the hospitality industry,” said Waldroup. “This new state-of-the-art facility will allow us to prepare them for those careers.”
Waldroup’s students are certainly eager to make the most of the new facility.
“I’m super-excited to work in it and learn new things about the food industry,” said Christina Lancaster.
“This new update to the classroom at Robbinsville High School means a lot to me,” said Jeremiah Jumper. “I can’t wait to do more cooking in the new commercial kitchen.”