At Riverview High School, students prepare lunch for school staff using professional cooking equipment while learning that kitchen work starts well before the first ingredient hits the pan.
Inside The Reef, the school’s student-run restaurant, junior Nolan Autry was learning to make pizza with help from classmate Kayla. Now in his second year in the culinary program, Autry usually makes cinnamon rolls, but this assignment offered a chance to try something different.
Under chefs Michael Todd Jent and Jessica Evans, more than 200 students gain kitchen experience, earn industry credentials and learn skills they can bring to their first hospitality jobs.
Students study food safety, sanitation, allergens and temperature control while preparing for certification exams. Approximately 75 students earn industry certifications annually, according to Evans, a Certified ServSafe Instructor.
Evans said those credentials help teenagers get ahead of the curve when seeking their first jobs. For local restaurants and other food service employers, the program offers prospective hires with food safety knowledge and practical kitchen experience.
Funding earned through industry certifications also helps purchase equipment, including stacked RATIONAL iCombi Pro ovens and a multifunctional iVario cooking system. Jent said corporate chefs provide training on the new equipment.
“This technology provides our students with firsthand experience using equipment found in modern professional kitchens, giving them a competitive advantage and making them more marketable to future employers,” Evans said.
Students also encounter the everyday decisions involved in running a food service operation. Jent adjusts assignments based on ingredient prices, seasonal availability and food trends, giving students opportunities to work with costly ingredients, even when sales will not recover the expense.
“We’re losing money on certain things, but they get to experience it,” Jent said.
As students advance, they take on greater responsibility and help guide classmates. Emma Juncal, a fourth-year participant now serving as a teaching assistant, is among those experienced students. Culinary arts is one of her favorite classes, although she plans to pursue a medical career.
“So, when some people come in without that like knowledge, it can be more difficult,” Juncal said.
Jent has been at Riverview for 25 years; Evans is in her 21st year. Their students’ accomplishments are celebrated on the program’s ‘Most Valuable Chef’ wall, an annual peer-voted distinction. Among its honorees is graduate Jada Vidal, who has hosted pop-up dining experiences and made multiple appearances on Food Network, according to Evans.
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