GUELPH – Students at St. James Catholic High School are cooking up a storm led by the guidance of Sleeman Centre head chef Sam Fouda in the schools brand new program – Kitchen Brigades.
Kitchen Brigades is an after-school program for students to learn cooking techniques and understand food.
Over a 24-week period, students spend one evening a week with Fouda guiding them through a number of approachable and multi-cultural dishes.
Almost 30 students in Grades 9 through 12 enthusiastically signed up to take part in the program, officials state.
“We follow a curriculum provided by Kitchen Brigades and every week there’s a recipe to follow,” Fouda said.
“I’m really glad to be here – we’re having a lot of fun.”
“A lot of students from our younger grades signed up and they’re extremely passionate about being here. They love listening to Sam, they seem very excited,” said educator Melissa Palmeri.
“They learn how to cook for the future. You know, some students come out of high school and they don’t know how to cook – this is a great program for them. Additionally, it helps kick start those students who have a passion for becoming a chef, someday working in some sort of culinary business.”
Among those students are Emma Ingram and Jordan Sorbara.
“Cooking is fun,” Sorbara said. “I cook dinner every night for my family.”
Ingram added “I’ve always just loved cooking. So it was definitely something that really interested me. I would definitely recommend Kitchen Brigades.”
As a St. James CHS alumni, Fouda can relate to students, having been in their position less than a decade ago.
“When I was here, there were no extracurriculars like this,” he said. “If this program was around when I was in here, I would have definitely been a part of it.”
The opportunity to participate in the program was made possible by support from the school board, with the majority of the cost subsidized by corporate sponsors.
“Kitchen Brigades is great, we hope more and more students will become involved,” said Palmeri.
