La Cañada High School will welcome three new electives in the 2024-25 school year, after the local school board approved them in its meeting on Tuesday.
Principal James Cartnal and Assistant Principal Jennifer Nebor gave the La Cañada Unified School District Board of Education a brief overview of each of the electives: international cuisine, advanced culinary arts and AP art history.
The high school already has a culinary class in place, but Nebor said its redesign will create more opportunities for students.
“With our new school DEI initiatives, we wanted to revamp the current culinary class to make it a more worldly view,” said Nebor, referring to the school’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The international cuisine class is designed as an introductory study of the world’s major cuisines. Students involved in the class will also study the patterns of family meals, current customs and food habits and cooking techniques and equipment unique to those countries.
“Students will research various regions of the world and study areas including North America, Latin America, Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and the Middle East,” the course description says.
Nebor said that participants in the class will create appetizers, entrees and desserts from those areas.
Board member Joe Radabaugh asked how the class would operate for students with special needs, and Nebor said a teaching assistant is present for the current cuisine class and will also be present in the new course.
To continue what has already been learned, the high school will also offer advanced culinary arts, which will focus on teaching students how to further a career in culinary pursuits.
“In this course, students will learn how food can be presented as art in a variety of different expressions,” the course description says. “By applying the fundamental techniques of culinary arts, students will be given opportunities to develop creativity in learning food styling techniques, marketing and branding, and the importance of the aesthetic of plating techniques.”
Nebor said that one of the ending projects associated with this class includes building a restaurant. Not only will students know how to cook the food, but they will also learn how to photograph it, present it on a menu and advertise it.
“It’s taking those skills that they learned in international cuisine and applying it to real life and a possible career,” said Nebor.
Introducing the AP art history class, Nebor said, “We have many Advanced Placement classes at La Cañada High School, but not as many in the visual performing arts area.” She predicted that these new classes will be great for students.
In AP art history, students will analyze works of art and place them in a historical context as they explore concepts such as culture and cultural interactions, theories and interpretations of art, the impact of materials, processes, and techniques on art and art making, and understanding purpose and audience in art historical analysis.
Nebor said that 36 students have currently signed up for the course next year.
Board member Octavia Thuss said she is excited about the new offerings and can’t wait for the results.
“These are wonderful classes, [and] thank you for bringing them to life,” said Thuss. “I especially really do like the idea of the advanced culinary arts; I think that’s going to be a really brilliant class.”
First published in the May 16 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
