East Bladen High School gets a taste of culinary at RCC
Robeson Community College welcomed high school students from East Bladen High School on Wednesday. The Foods II class came by for campus taking a tour, which included a stop in the culinary department’s kitchen for a hands-on lesson in preparing their lunch for the day, a one-of-a-kind pizza.
Students had the option of choosing from tomato-based sauce, alfredo sauce, or barbeque sauce as the base on the pizza. Then from there, they picked out the various toppings that they wanted to add.
High school senior Jasmine Allen made her pizza using cheese, pepperoni, spinach, and mushrooms.
“It was fun,” she said. “I enjoyed learning about the program.”
Jasmine hopes to become a nurse, however, she said she might consider a career in culinary as well.
Tyrone Graham said that he enjoyed the opportunity to visit RCC saying, “I’m looking at my options.”
He’s undecided currently, but he’s thinking about culinary or possibly engineering, he said as he sat down to enjoy the supreme pizza he made himself from scratch using the ingredients available.
“It’s been a good experience so far, I’m enjoying being in the kitchen, getting to see the utensils and how it all works.”
Aspiring Chef Tyler Pratt agrees.
“I have always liked cooking food and watching people cook,” said Pratt, who is also a senior at East Bladen High. “Just being around this environment, looking around, I know this program will be good.”
A foodie at heart, Pratt says he enjoys trying different recipes and he hopes to attend RCC in the fall.
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- McNeill helps a student from Bladen High prepare his pizza.
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- McNeill cuts the pizza Tyler Pratt created.
For culinary student, Latoya McNeill, she enjoyed getting to opportunity to talk with the high school students.
“It was fun to talk with them about their future plans,” McNeill said. “I’m trying to get them into culinary, so they can start early and get a good job doing what they love.”
McNeill says that she wishes she had started at RCC initially, saying it would have saved her time and money.
“I took Food Level I and II I high school too,” McNeill said. “I see myself in some of them, it’s nice to have an opportunity to encourage them.”
“We love having the high schools here,” said Chef James Ingram, interim director of the culinary program. “It’s a good experience for the college and the high school. It gives us a chance to show what we offer and hopefully, we can get students to go into culinary arts after they visit.”
If you would like to learn more about the culinary arts program at Robeson Community College, please contact Chef Ingram at (910) 272-3490 or jingram@robeson.edu.
