When chef Mike Doyle got the idea for a new trades exploration course for summer school in the Surrey School District, he said he was gearing the class toward grades 10 and 11.
The Culinary, Baking and Meatcutting summer course is a new trades exploration course offered through the district’s summer school.
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From July 2 to 26, students are learning in an industrial kitchen at Enver Creek Secondary. Guest chefs from throughout the district have been coming in to teach the students, and in the final week, there is a field trip to Granville Island to visit Pacific Culinary School.
Doyle, who teaches at Enver Creek, said he started the culinary arts trade program and apprenticeship “way back when” at Tamanawis Secondary School, but then he moved to Enver Creek.
He said it’s hard to find students to fill the apprenticeship program, a 21-week program that runs from late January to June at Tamanawis, with students spending the month of June on site at Vancouver Community College’s downtown campus.
“I thought that there should be a little step between — not a foods course, not a cafeteria course, but a course that’s in between,” he said. “If you’re interested in it, the things we do here are a little bit higher than what I can do on a day-to-day basis because on a day-to-day basis, I’m rushing out to put the food for lunch.”
Surrey students busy in the kitchen this summer, in our new Culinary, Baking & Meatcutting #trades exploration course! Today was a pizza/tiramisu challenge 🍕🍨 #DidYouKnow we have about 12,500 students in various summer pgms? #sd36learn #SurreyBC @SD36Summer pic.twitter.com/iKzR2eCK53
— Surrey Schools (@Surrey_Schools) July 12, 2019
Now about 18 students, in grade 8 through 12, are registered in the new Culinary, Baking and Meatcutting summer course, which is offered at Enver Creek Secondary School.
“The hope was if I got the grades 10 and 11 and then in Grade 12 they could take the apprenticeship program, so I wanted it to run into a program that we already had,” Doyle said. “That’s why I wanted this one to be a district program; we’re drawing kids from all over the place to take this program.”
For Meg Dutton, who’s going into Grade 9 at Fraser Heights Secondary in September, she said the course is a good fit for her because she loves cooking at home.
“I wanted to be able to do something over the summer to do with cooking, whether it was for credits or not,” Dutton said.
Dutton said she has some experience with cooking, and had taken the foods class in school in Grade 8.
“This is much more complex and focused around cooking, whereas the other was more focused on safety.”
For Diya Deol, who’s going into Grade 8 at North Surrey Secondary in September, she said in the two weeks the course has been running, she has learned a lot of new recipes and made new friends.
Asked what she would tell people about the course, Deol said, “Take it next year.”
READ ALSO: How teens grapple with growth at Surrey’s most crowded high school, June 11, 2019
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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