Coalhurst High School cooking

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Sunny South News

Students at Coalhurst High School (CHS) are really cooking with a brand new kitchen built for the school’s food studies program, which opened up in January.

“The kitchen started getting renovated back in September and got finished for the second semester. We have approximately half the kids in the school in the foods program right now,” said Aaron Moffat, a first-year food studies teacher at the school of over 150 students from Grades 7-12 and a staff of 10 teachers.

Moffat said the kitchen needed an update. Previously, the kitchen had only one stove and the renovations were required to get more kids involved and to have a stronger foods program. “So far so good.”

“It’s been fantastic. The kids are really enjoying it and we’re pumping out tons of food,” added Moffat.

CHS Vice-Principal Shannon Collier said after representatives from Palliser Regional Schools paid a visit to the school three years ago the school division decided to give CHS funding for a kitchen upgrade.

According to Collier, the students were interested in foods but the school just didn’t have the proper facilities.

“We had one kitchen and a concession,” she said.

After CHS opened up a variety of options for students to enrol in — with that came the need for the foods program and the addition of four units in a renovated kitchen.

“The kids love it. They’re following all the procedures. You’d think we’ve been cooking for about three months already but it’s only been a couple of weeks. They’re really excited and enthusiastic about it. They’re looking after what we’ve been given,” said Collier, adding the school also offers cosmology, videography and photography options and recently CHS received new Mac computers and professional cameras.

“There’s so many things going on here,” noted Collier and CHS has a wonderful teaching staff.

Since CHS is so close to Lethbridge, Collier said, the school is making sure students are being taken care of and are not lost to bigger urban centres.

“We’re offering just as good of programs for our options if not better,” said Collier, plus all of the students at the school can take the options offered.