Dakota High School is home to a diverse selection of academic courses, including those in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department. One of the CTE courses offered is the Culinary Arts Program. Instructed by Mr. Zampich, the program provides students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a restaurant setting and build culinary skills. Mr. Zampich has been teaching Culinary Arts in the Chippewa Valley School district for many years and has been at Dakota since 2010. Using the knowledge he has gained in the industry, Mr. Zampich provides students with the chance to get their own cooking experience, right here at Dakota.  

Culinary Arts is a two-hour block, and this year’s classes consist of Culinary 1 and Culinary 2 students. Depending on the school year, an additional class, Culinary 3, is available to take as well. One of the defining traits of the course is its unique hands-on learning. Students are given the opportunity to take part in running the school restaurant: “The Meeting Grounds.” Located in the north end of the 10-12 building, “The Meeting Grounds” is a working restaurant, which currently is not open to students, but is open to the general public. Just like any other restaurant, there are many components to running it. Every couple of weeks, the students change jobs, so that they get a variety of experiences, and are exposed to different career opportunities. These include, but are not limited to, the jobs of cashier, server, and line-cook. Everything in the restaurant is whipped up by the students themselves, including a variety of breads, soups, and desserts. Helping to prepare and manage the eatery allows the students to build upon skills that they already have, as well as develop new ones. While there is, of course, a focus on developing culinary-related abilities such as consistency when cutting food, another main focus is placed upon the life skills, like teamwork, that one gains from being in a CTE course. The phrase “it takes a village” holds true especially in culinary arts. It takes more than one person to run a whole restaurant, thus making teamwork even more important. Other lessons that are built upon during class are the importance of being on time and professionalism. Those are not just qualities necessary for a career in the culinary field but are traits that can be applied to any profession. Therefore, a desire to go into the food industry is not a requirement for joining the class, since no matter where a student goes after graduation, they will always be able to apply what they learned in culinary. After all, as Mr. Zampich said, he just wants his students “to be successful” no matter what path they decide to take. 

Outside of the classroom, students have the chance to compete in local culinary competitions, using what they learned in class to help them. Just last year, students from Dakota earned seven bronze, seven silver, three gold and two best in show awards for displaying their abilities. One of these winners is senior Jenna Belmont. This is her second year in culinary arts, and she shared that the program gives students the opportunity to “[learn] the process of working in the kitchen.”  

Culinary Arts is a unique program designed to teach students lessons that stick with them all throughout life. When asked about what he is most looking forward to this school year, Mr. Zampich said that he “[loves] watching all the students grow” as they progress through the culinary program. From learning basic techniques, to running a restaurant, culinary arts sets students on a path to success no matter where life takes them.