SHS students can now learn the culinary arts

SIKESTON -- When her culinary arts students are in action, Kerrie Swain describes the situation as organized chaos.

"It's almost like an assembly line. When we're in the kitchen, everybody knows what they're supposed to do," Swain said of her students.

And she's right. While one pair of students was spreading pimento cheese on slices of bread, another was cutting them in half and placing them on a platter. Across the kitchen, one student was sprinkling pecans on a dessert while another was cutting brownies and two more were checking cookies before taking them out of the oven. All the while, a student was washing dishes. Swain was supervising and answering any questions the students had.

"I teach them how to work together and cooperate," Swain said of her students. "Most of all, they learn leadership skills and that you don't always get to stand at the grill."

One week eighth and ninth graders toured the kitchen, and one of them asked a culinary arts student what was the hardest part of the program.

"He told the younger students: 'If one person is having a bad day, then everybody's having a bad day,'" Swain said.

When the new school year began in August so did the culinary arts program at Sikeston Career and Technology Center.

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