Students in St. Clair College's Community Integration through Cooperative Education program are cooking from scratch and then serving it up at The Wedge.
Eight CICE students are taking part in what instructor and Chef Leo Grado calls The Wedge Culinary Class, a living classroom where students see the culinary experience from beginning to end in a fully immersive experiential learning exercise.
"We're a community College, and we're all about the community, so they're part of the community," said Grado, who is an instructor of culinary and pastries at St. Clair College. "Some students are introverted, and they're not very experienced with face-to-face interactions. This will get them out of their shell and give them exposure because we want to give them as many avenues to be employed as possible."
Students spend Tuesday together in the kitchen, baking fresh bread and cinnamon rolls, and cooking up more advanced meat and vegetable dishes for resale. Then on Wednesday and Thursday, the class is split in half for service, dishing out the culinary creations at ‘The Wedge' near the cafeteria at St. Clair's Main Windsor Campus during lunch hour.
Madilyn Gates, a second-year student in the CICE program, said she's not only learning how to cook and bake but also gaining life skills that will help her advance beyond the classroom.
"It's going well. So far, all the food's been selling really well," Gates said. "Everything is very tasty. It's very interesting for sure, and so far, so good."
Her classmate Camden McCandless, also a second-year student in the CICE program, said he's having fun with his friends and learning skills for life.
"I love to work here. We make everyone happy," McCandless said. "I'm learning a lot of new things I can do, and I'm working hard. I get a little nervous, but I'm getting into it. It's fun!"
Chef Grado says the students will continue with this rotation for the next 11 weeks, serving up a fresh menu every Wednesday and Thursday. During the first day of service, they almost sold out their entire stock for the day.
"This is very important, workwise, employment-wise, but also in their personal lives," he said. "We teach them a lot of life skills, like basic soup stocks, baking products. A lot of these students have never been exposed to knives or ovens. Even if they don't continue with the program or a culinary career, they have life skills in the end, and we're happy with that."
Kerry Reimer Jones, the program coordinator and professor of CICE, says this course gives equal emphasis to cooking and service, which gives them a leg up when they enter the workforce.
"This gives them the experience in that realm that they were missing before, and it matches our placements," said Prof. Reimer Jones. "They have three community placements, and this prepares them to be front of the house, not just back of the house."
Most of all, she's excited to see her students learn and grow and that patrons are taking notice, too.
"Seeing them perform is absolutely incredible," she adds. "This is my dream job, and I'm watching other dreams come true, so it's pretty incredible."
