The Importance of Foods Classes

Students at the high school level have to take classes that are called electives. Central High School offers its students a variety of classes in that category. Among those is the Foods and Nutrition class taught by Kelsey Pratt and Brooke Sutton. The Foods classes are classes that teach students about kitchen techniques, nutrition and skills beyond high schools. When describing how she started teaching this class Pratt says ,”it was really eye opening to me the importance of life skills and the importance of family as so I really wanted to teach high school students those life skills and positive behaviors they could carry on into their adulthood.” Foods classes can often times be some students’ favorite classes. Unlike some of the other classes, Foods and Nutrition has an immediate real world application. Ms. Pratt said that “sometimes kids say why are we doing this stuff in math, well they see that what they learned in math is helpful when they are measuring out ingredients. After Foods, students have the option to take a Culinary class. That class furthers education in Foods and Nutrition and helps prepare students for a career in the culinary field.

Students who take Foods get real world experience. They learn to cook in groups and figure out how to work well with others. The largest skills Foods class focuses on are patience and communication.  When preparing food it is important to follow directions exactly as it says on the recipe. It is also an extremely helpful and vital lesson to remember in daily life now and in the future. This lesson is emphasized in the class. Students can “connect things they’re doing in their core classes to what they do in Foods.” Foods and Nutrition also shows the students how to make good decisions when it comes to what foods they should be eating. It helps students learn how to live a healthier life. There are several units on how to maintain a balanced diet and what types of food they should eat to have a healthy diet. They also learn how to spend their money wisely when shopping to buy food. Learning this in school encourages students to be more independent at home. Students learn how to prepare their own food and are able to contribute to family conservations when it comes to decisions about food and eating more healthily. The skills learned are commonly used in everyday life, but are hard to learn alone without any assistance. This class goes far beyond learning how to cook.  Foods and Nutrition teaches kids these indispensable life lessons so that they will be able to use them from this point on and grow into more knowledgeable adults.  Another amazing reward of taking Foods and Nutrition is getting to eat the products of each lesson. Many students take Foods for that reason, and while getting a midday snack is great, they quickly realize that the food is not the only part of that class. The best and most important part of Foods is getting to work with other people and learn lessons that they are able to carry through life.