Farm-to-table preparation with an on-site garden is one of many highlights of the culinary program at Valley High School in Santa Ana.
Spearheaded by the nonprofit High School Inc., the program prepares students for the job world with an up-to-date curriculum and state-of-the-art equipment rivaling those of modern professional kitchens.
“High School Inc. is reinventing education,” said Felix Lugo, executive director of the High School Inc. Academy Foundation. “Culinary and home economics is no longer an elective, it’s like a major.”
During the first year of the program, students learn hygiene, sanitation, knife skills and basic cooking techniques. The second year moves into more advanced cooking and restaurant management, while nutrition and international cuisine are covered in the following year.
Students also cultivate a vertical garden on-site with vegetables and herbs grown exclusively for their dishes, featuring ingredients picked minutes before being served. During their final year, many students are already working professionally, or may go back to work for their family businesses.
Former students are five-time national champions of the Cooking up Change competition, and have even traveled to Washington D.C. to compete. The curriculum also builds soft skills such as public speaking, effective communication and time management.
Kiet Tran, 17, immigrated from Vietnam five years ago and is a third-year student. He learned English while in class and has completed internships at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort and Spa, BJ's Restaurant and Brewery and the Dupont Centre Cafe and catering services located at Glidewell in Irvine.
“I started practicing cooking at home and helping my mom cook,” Tran said. “My goal is to be a private chef. This program helped me a lot – talking to mentors and culinary instructors. I’m the first one in my family to get a real college-level culinary education.”
Business mentors helped student Lizbeth Maldonado with public speaking, how to express herself, and how to communicate her culinary vision and menu to others.
“When I started in the Culinary Academy I was very shy, I was very like closed up in a little ball, and then throughout the year, this opened me up more,” she said in a video on the program website.
Kristin Sepulveda is one of two full-time culinary instructors at Valley High, and she says it’s really rewarding to see students with minimal experience blossom even after one semester.
“I’ve been here for five years and I think our students have shown so much dedication in learning industry skills and jumping in different roles,” she said. “We’re really lucky to have a robust career and technical education program at Valley and within Santa Ana Unified.”
Dishes prepared by students from the culinary program at Valley High School. Photo courtesy of High School Inc.
There are currently about 360 students in the program. They’re able to plan menus and execute deadlines for catering events. Their mastery of commercial equipment gives them the skills they need for a line cook or restaurant position, Sepulveda said.
Nearly 90% of High School Inc. academy students move on to higher education.
Degrees from private culinary schools cost tens of thousands of dollars, and High School Inc. strives to remove that barrier.
The school awarded graduate Samantha Sirena a culinary scholarship in 2023. She is currently studying baking and pastry at Orange Coast College, and says a college education is vital to helping her find a well-paid and fulfilling career.
The next challenges are getting on-the-job training and connecting with potential employers – two obstacles the nonprofit also tackles.
The Santa Ana-based organization empowers youth and strengthens communities through education and business. It recently helped raise a $500,000 matching donation from the Thompson Foundation to construct a new $18 million culinary and automotive facility at Valley High. The project fell short by $2 million after supply chain issues drove up the cost of construction.
Due to open next month, the approximately 6,000-square-foot space is 10 times larger than what High School Inc. had before, and can accommodate up to 250 students. The new facility features dedicated pop-up restaurant spaces, along with areas for a larger garden to support farm-to-table dining onsite.
