Business

Culinary students learning to serve

BLOOMINGDALE -- Culinary arts students at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School are learning how to serve the public with real-world opportunities.

Instructor Glen Zalenski said his students are working in school and in the community to gain some hands-on skills in hospitality. Zalenski and eight pupils -- juniors and seniors -- got the chance to occupy a food truck for Interstate Waste Services at the Apex Landfill in Amsterdam on Sept. 29-30 as they prepared hot dogs and hamburgers for employees. The truck is owned by the sanitation company and he said it was the first time his students cooked for the workers.

“(Company officials) called us and said they had a food truck available and asked us to man it,” he said. “We cooked for employee appreciation and had 90 people each day.”

Among the budding chefs were Riley Guskea, Alaycia Selman, Payton Wright, Mikayla Wade, Koletin Burkey, Taylor Harris, Anthony Pierce and Cara Young. Zalenski said four students worked each day and learned the real world of food preparation inside the close quarters. The atmosphere was much smaller than the restaurant setting they are acclimated to at the school’s CrestView Inn Cafe, but he said they performed well and he hoped students would have another chance to serve in the future.

“It was a great experience,” Zalenski noted. “The students had a good time doing it and it was a real-life experience.”

A few of the participants shared their experiences, saying it was fun and fast-paced.

“It was fun,” said Selman, adding that she liked gaining skills.

“I had a great time,” added Burkey. “We were having a blast and [the employees] were very friendly.”

“It was pretty fun,” noted Harris. “It was fast-paced and a different experience.”

Students have done off-site catering in the past and will be involved in a series of upcoming activities both inside and outside the school. Among them is serving caramel apples during the JVS Fall Fest on Thursday; preparing pasta for the free JVS spaghetti dinner on Oct. 22; serving meals for the schoolwide advisory committee meeting on Oct. 28; hosting a fall buffet lunch with roast beef and turkey on Oct. 29 with reservations required; and holding a Veterans Day breakfast to coincide with the annual program on Nov. 10.

Other plans include pierogi sales in addition to pumpkin roll and pie sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus students are expected to feed about 300 people during the annual Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby set for Feb. 6 at the JVS.

Zalenski said he is eyeing a barbecue buffet in the spring.