The Coop Tech program provides students such as Joel Espinal and Juan Sanchez with opportunities to explore their passions. In the following narrative, WHSAD Seniors share their experiences in the Culinary program.
Juan Sanchez: I chose to go to Coop Tech because I was told it was a way to experience new things as well as a way to meet new people and work with them. Currently, I’m in advanced culinary. What I like the most is that I learn something new everyday and the fact that I can practice it at home, such as making pizzas, baguettes, croissants, and other breads from scratch. My teacher is one of a kind. His tough love is what makes him the best. The way he teaches is honestly the best I have seen in a long time. I plan to become a chef. Coop Tech gives you job opportunities as well as experience in the field you want. I definitely recommend students to go to Coop. I honestly like the ambiance in that school, along with the new things I can learn that high school doesn’t provide me.
Joel Espinal: I decided to go to Coop because it can really give me a head start on the career I want. For example, if you want to be a chef, you need to know the measurements that most chefs and bakers use, the locations of a kitchen, know what ingredients go in which pantry, etc. I’m currently taking the culinary class. What I love about the class is the atmosphere. It makes me feel like teamwork is more important than what you realize. Our chef is hard on us and punishes us in very simple things. But this is the way he prepares us for what the real world wants from professional chefs and bakers in which some of us do plan to be. I would love to be a chef and Coop Tech gives me the information I need to be in the field. They’re multiple paths that a chef can take like getting European knowledge on the dishes they make and then bringing that back to America to work with. I think they give great opportunities for jobs that interest students. Actually this week a teacher informed me that they’re offering paid internships to work in a kitchen.
