Culinary Classes

Many students at Newtown High School juggle a lot of classes at once, and it can be overwhelming. A great way to take a break from all of this–while getting credits for college–are the culinary classes at NHS. 

The classes provide basic cooking skills, as well as an outlet for culinary driven students to get good practice at their craft. These classes also open a window to many teens for job opportunities, some of which are a great way to ease into the work life. And the friendly, dedicated, and passionate teachers who run the program make students feel right at home in the kitchen. 

As a hard working student at NHS, students can have a lot on their plate, especially with after-school activities and sports. Study halls are an option, but they are uneventful, and students in culinary classes are engaged almost every day. In addition, credits are paramount in order to graduate, and students get no credits for study halls. The classes are a great way to earn these credits, and they are very involved. 

Almost every day, students prep, cook, and finish a variety of dishes throughout the semester. The culinary program offers three courses: Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry, and Global Street Foods. Depending on the class, students will make different dishes, practicing many different skills along the way. These can include cutting vegetables, baking brownies, frying potatoes, and kneading dough. With whatever class students take, there will be action every day in the kitchen. 

However, the best part of these courses at NHS are the hard working and supportive teachers who run the classes. Lori Hoagland and Stephanie Gacso run the culinary program, along with Thomas Damon.

“I’m an avid traveler, and I wanted to be able to bring back things that I’ve experienced from my travels to share with my students,” Hoagland said, a chef instructor in the culinary program. 

Chef Hoagie, (as the students call her), works hard every day to help kids learn basic skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. 

“I personally think that everyone in school should take culinary, auto, and personal finance all in one semester, each course having a six week block; this is a basic skill that everybody is going to need in the future, and I think the opportunities are tremendous,” Hoagland said.

When students fall in love with culinary arts at NHS, there is no dead end. An additional program is offered, known as the advanced program. 

“It’s an enterprise program, which means we create and run small businesses. For example, we run the soup kitchen, and the snack shack, so kids can get real hands-on experience, and a lot of kids have gone from that to work in other snack shacks or country clubs,” Hoagland said. 

Another impactful teacher in the culinary kitchen is Gacso. Gacso works hard every day to keep the kitchen running while teaching students the basics of cooking and baking. 

“[I enjoy] having students who are really interested, and wanting to actually learn, not just eat,” Gacso said, who focuses on the baking aspect in the kitchen. 

Gacso brings up a point that is stressed a lot in the kitchen: no one is there just to eat, everyone has to put in hard work to get the end product they want.

Damon is another friendly face in the culinary kitchen. “[My favorite part about the job] is probably working with the students, and learning a lot; I learn a lot from this department, and Chef Hoagie, and working with you guys,” Damon, a para educator and kitchen facilitator in the culinary department, said.

Though he doesn’t teach a specific class,Damon works behind the scenes by helping students become familiar with work in the kitchen, including teaching how to wash dishes, directing where to find certain equipment, and answering all sorts of questions. Every day, students can find him running around the kitchen, helping in every way he can. In addition, he loves conversing with students, always striking up conversation to brighten the mood. 

“Mr. Damon is a really nice guy; I like him because I talk with him about the Bills and the NFL in general, and he’s really good at helping out if needed,” NHS sophomore Noah Kirshner said. 

“[Mr. Damon] is easy to talk to, and it's nice when he helps us wash dishes, because they pile up and it’s hard to clean all of them alone,” NHS sophomore Grayson Pimentel said. Mr. Damon’s impact on students makes their experience so much more lighthearted and fun. 

The door of the kitchen is open to endless possibilities, whether they’re at school or out in the real world. However, what makes our program so special are the people that make it up, and the countless efforts done behind closed doors to push students to create whatever path they want.