By Daniel Guerrero
After long hours of discussion between the school managers and the community, the new culinary classroom has now been greenlit for construction at G6 and aims to open in the next few months. The classroom transferred from G6 to L1 due to the abundance of space and sinks that the students are able to use to cook.
Tentative plans for the classroom have been pending for the past four years. Approval was needed from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD.
The culinary arts classroom has not been significantly updated since the 1960’s and was due for technological and physical upgrades such as a more industrial kitchen space.
The classroom contained many tools, cooking supplies, tables, and counters, that the students had to work around because they were not easily sanitized.
Culinary arts teacher and chef Katherine Silberling agrees that this update was necessary.
“I’m excited for this new classroom because everything is clean and streamlined. We will also be adding a grill outside, so we can grill food this semester since we will not have a kitchen,’’ Silberling said.
Silberling has been involved in the planning process of the new classroom. She helped come up with layouts that were best suited for the classroom to benefit students with their work.
“There will be eight teams of students instead of six teams. This will help make sure students get a hands-on education,” Silberling said.
During the construction, culinary students will cook mainly cold dishes, while occasionally utilizing some electrical appliances such as waffle makers in L1. Along with learning how to cook different dishes, students are still expected to practice food safety in the classroom.
“It’s very interesting to learn more about the safety of food. I’ll be more prepared for when the culinary classroom opens,” senior Joseph Fuchs said.
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