The smell of fresh baked cookies fills the room. Bowls containing chocolate chips, flour and butter are scattered around countertops. Students in duos or trios stand in their respective cooking stations, putting together their next batch or cleaning up dishes. This is an average day in Applied Nutrition and Dietetics, a brand new C.T.E. class. 

Taught by new teacher Heidi Rourke, this course has now replaced the Intro to Culinary class previously offered. The district now only offers it to campuses that have an advanced culinary program, such as Glenn and Cedar Park High School. As a result, Applied Nutrition and Dietetics was created in order to teach students about cooking, recipe making and dietary substitutions. 

“I hope that [students] learn how to make healthy options and substitutions when cooking and eating for themselves,” former Nutrition teacher Megan Wolske said. “Also learning just a little bit deeper about the six essential nutrients and being able to look at case studies to help create menus for people with different dietary needs.”

The prerequisite for this class, Lifetime Nutrition, Wellness & Interpersonal Studies, focuses on healthy mindfulness and kitchen safety. Students in this course have the opportunity to earn a certification as a ServSafe food handler, which requires them to have knowledge of food safety. In class, they are given quizzes and tests on topics such as knife handling, chemical threats when cooking and preventing cross-contamination. 

“It’s made me be more self aware of germs,” sophomore Carter Griffith said. “One of the things we went over was washing hands and it was really eye opening. It’s made me be more disciplined about my actions.”

In comparison, Applied Nutrition and Dietetics dives even deeper into cooking than its prerequisite. Students are tested with cooking labs such as the Chop Challenge, where groups are given a protein, dairy, grain, vegetable and a wild card ingredient. Then, they must cook a dish with the materials given and present it to their teacher for a grade.

“My group did pork tenderloin with mushroom cream sauce and quinoa and apple tots,” sophomore Cassidy Defriese said. “I just really like cooking, it calms me down.”

For some, these classes are just one step closer to their future outside of high school. Students are being educated on nutrition and cooking skills that can help them pursue a career in the field. Expertise in these topics is essential to become a dietitian, nutritionist or chef.

“I’d like to become a chef or make my own pastry shop or restaurant,” junior Gabriel Sanchez said. “It’s exhilarating, but also scary.”