Rodel Teacher Council Member Spotlight: Jermaine Williams

Two days before our visit to Jermaine Williams’ classroom, I received the following email:

That’s right, Chef Williams was inviting me to join his class and truly experience what it’s like to be a culinary student at St. Georges Technical High School. There would even be a uniform! Obviously, I accepted the challenge.

When we arrived at St. Georges on the morning of our visit, we met with Jermaine and received our uniforms. As students arrived, they donned their culinary gear and prepared to enter the kitchen. At St. Georges, 11th grade culinary students prepare the lunch served in the staff cafeteria, in addition to preparing the food for other special events. Our task was to join them in their daily tasks to prepare the day’s lunch. On the menu the day of our visit: pork chop marsala, crab cakes, broccoli cheddar soup, crab and corn chowder, roasted veggies, pumpkin roll, and double chocolate chip cookies.

Each week, students in Jermaine’s class rotate through a different station in the meal preparation process. The stations include: dishwasher, salad, soup, entrée, dessert, and dining room setup. During our time in the class, we each rotated through three different stations and worked alongside the students to prepare for the lunchtime rush. We had so much fun working with Jermaine and his students—I even learned how to properly julienne a carrot.

Working alongside the students was a great way to learn about St. Georges CTE programs from their perspective. Several of the 11th graders we worked with were already thinking about where they wanted to do their co-op programs next year, when students spend half their school day off campus working.

At the end of the day, we got to sample our hard work—Jermaine invited us to stay for lunch. The spread was impressive and Jermaine’s 10th graders—who serve lunch in the staff cafeteria every day—were courteous and professional. Thanks to Jermaine and all of his students for hosting us and teaching us a thing or two. The culinary challenge was a huge success!

St. Georges 11th graders kept Rodel staffers Jenna Bucsak, Rachel Wiggans Chan, and Neil Kirschling on task and helped us meet Chef Williams’ culinary challenge!

Related Topics: Delaware, Education, St. Georges, vo-tech