“The class this year [and beyond] will be more ServSafe orientated because of my fifteen years of restaurant experience” said Mrs. Newman; for people who are not familiar with ServSafe, ServSafe is a food and beverage safety training and certificate program administered by the U.S. National Restaurant Association.

Another aspect of the program that is different from the previous teacher is what the students will be cooking in their cooking labs. So far, students have made chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, apple turnovers, double-chocolate chip muffins and pancakes.

But, that’s not all in the future Mrs. Newman stated that she is planning on having “themed food” for May the 4th and Halloween along with many more planned labs and free cooks where the students have the option to make any meal they desire.

“My favorite dish that we’ve made so far are the apple turnovers because they turned out the best and the dish I look forward to making the most is chicken alfredo,” senior Shannon Stewart said.

To prepare for the ServSafe test later in the year Mrs. Newman has her students do activities to learn required vocabulary.

“The HENNS one pager that covered the main five diseases related to foodborne illness,” senior Lorelai Warman said.

HENNS is an acronym that includes: Hepatitis A, E-coli, Norovirus, Shigella, and Salmonella.

“So far this year we have spent roughly one thousand dollars and that number will probably be up to roughly three thousand five hundred dollars,” said Mrs. Newman.