ALCOA, Tenn. — It may seem like it's not that big of a deal, but there's a right way and a wrong way to chop vegetables.
This is something culinary professionals know all about and some of those future professionals are now honing their skills at Alcoa City Schools.
The district got more than $1 million from the state's Innovative School Models grants to invest in the Cooking Up Culinary careers program.
"We looked at culinary specifically, because Blount County is the peaceful side of the Smokies," Alcoa City Schools Director of Career and Technical Education Patty Thomas said. "There is a hospitality and tourism industry that needs to be supported."
Thomas said the state started funding the grants a few years ago and this year is the third for the culinary program. High school students can elect to take several culinary classes as part of it, and eighth-grade students can also take an exploratory class while still in middle school.
She said the goal of this course, and other career and technical education programs, is to show students there are career paths available after graduation that don't necessarily require traditional four-year college degrees.
"So many career and technical (companies) offer good jobs," Thomas said. "(So we) engage students early. Before they invest their money, they know what kind of occupation they're getting into. They have exposure."
Alcoa is working to take the classes a step further and looking into buying a food truck that students can operate.
"As our community changes and grows so do the program and so does the need and training for students," she said. "So there’s a huge market for food trucks, so we see food trucks in neighborhoods and they’ve got specific areas set aside for food trucks to meet, so I think it’s a good way for students to explore entrepreneurship, as well as the culinary industry."
Brian Tatum is a senior at Alcoa High School and enrolled in the culinary program for a reason.
"I've always grown up loving cooking and just eating food in general," Tatum said. "When I'm older I want to open my own restaurant. So any experience helps."
Tatum and his classmates are under the wing of chef Shawn Banks, whose spent nearly 30 years as a chef in East Tennessee. Banks has worked at places like Cherokee Country Club, Tennova Turkey Creek Hospital and as the owner and operator of The Local Butcher shop in Alcoa.
Tatum is learning the basics first, like how to properly hold a knife, how to use different salts when making a popcorn and the connection food has to people.
He wants to open a sushi restaurant and said it's his favorite kind of food to make.
"It's such a personal dish, like the way you organize it," he said. "The different kinds of fish. All of it changes in its own way."
