Combining chemistry and food classes leads to tasty education

School administrators enjoyed a tasty lunch of barbecued chicken pizza, a tossed salad and a chocolate chip brownie drizzled in chocolate at their monthly meeting in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211.

This was no carry-out affair. Instead, students from Schaumburg High School's Chemistry of Foods class provided the feast, or "plated" the meal.

Catering the luncheon was one of the last assignments for the two-period class that combines applied chemistry with advanced culinary arts. Students receive credits for an elective lab science and a family consumer science elective.

While traditional chemistry courses cover properties of compounds, theirs held labs on such things as fudge, popcorn, lollipops and caramel apples.

"We just completed a unit on sauces," says junior Mike Jett of Schaumburg. "In culinary school, that's one of the first things you learn."

The class was launched as a prototype in the district eight years ago to hook students on science and introduce them to vocational experiences. Now, it can be found at Palatine and Fremd high schools as well.

At Schaumburg High School, students work in a lab kitchen that boasts six commercial ranges, preparation tables, industrial size refrigerator and freezer, a commercial dishwasher, and a three-compartment sink for washing, rinsing and bleaching.

Students wear chef coats with their names on them and learn about sanitation requirements.

Teacher Ken Turner says the course appeals to all different types of students, including one-third who enroll with a plan to attend culinary school. However, by the end of the semester, more than half the students are considering the career, he figures.

Jett was one of those who planned to attend culinary school all along. He fondly recalls watching his Italian grandmother cook family favorites, including her original spaghetti sauce with sausage and meatballs.

He grew up watching her and his grandfather, and started cooking with them as a child. That's where he learned to trust his instincts with spices, using a pinch of this and pinch of that, and in class, his classmates turn to him for his expertise.

"I love cooking," he says. "You have to be passionate about what you do."

Last week's luncheon for administrators was typical of the "restaurants" students prepare for faculty members every other week or so, where teachers pick the menu and assign the jobs. 

Students then execute the plan as managers, cooks, servers, busboys and dishwashers, just as they would in a real restaurant.

The day before serving administrators, they worked in their lab to prep the meal, chopping garlic to saute with the chicken, and using the kitchen's industrial mixers to knead the pizza dough.

It all came off beautifully, and proved to be a dry run for their class final next week, when they will have 80 minutes to prepare and plate a complete meal after being given the menu.

Just like any high-end culinary arts competition, they will be graded on such things as knife skills, sanitation, plate presentation, overcoming obstacles and leadership.

They will take their final for the applied chemistry course in June, but for the lab portion, the good news is that they get to eat their final.