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Blue House Burgers serves up student culinary experience
Along Academy Avenue, in Maize, there's a little blue house that’s been the location of Blue House Burgers, a student-run pop-up restaurant concept part of the Maize Career Academy’s Culinary Application course. For the past four weeks, two teams of eight students from Maize High School and Maize South High School have been busy dishing up great food to the community, all while gaining experience in culinary arts to apply to their post-high school careers.
Before putting their restaurant concept into action, students received their ServSafe Managers certification, which verifies that a person-in-charge has sufficient knowledge to protect the public from foodborne illness. Before opening to the public, students worked together to build their concept, including developing recipes, creating a menu, marketing, cost analysis, and building Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) safety plans. When not running their pop-up restaurant, students are involved in community-based internships around the Wichita area.
Maize South High School junior Caroline Weibel is using this course as a jumpstart to her career after high school. She first became interested in culinary after taking a Family and Consumer Science course in middle school, but she says she “always loved cooking from a young age.”
Caroline recently completed her internship at AVI and Corporate Caterers of Wichita. She learned the ins and outs of running a business and hosting events for the public because of her interest in working there one day. She said, “My biggest takeaway was learning how to set up for events, how to deliver food, and the cost of running a restaurant that also caterers.”
She said she has appreciated the team aspect at her internship and Blue House Burgers, knowing they are all there for each other to learn and grow in culinary. “It’s been a great project to learn how to work with everyone, how to run an actual business, and seeing how the community reacts to what we’ve made,” she said.
Blue House Burgers evolved from students knowing that burgers aren’t only easy and tasty to make, but also are a comfort food, especially when served with a side of fries and a milkshake.
Proceeds raised from the pop-up restaurant go toward scholarships and travel opportunities for the students. In previous years, students have used the funds raised for costs related to participating in national competitions. The course also puts a high priority on volunteer work around Wichita. Students have recently made lasagna, bread, and salad for the participants of a college fair happening at Maize Career Academy.
For the students involved, the hands-on learning experience is second to none.
Cara Poole, Maize Career Academy Culinary Arts teacher, said, “The students have figured out what works best for them and figured out what tasks they excel at. The students have done all of it themselves. The pop-ups are truly student-run and student-served.”
The pop-up closes on Friday, Oct. 22 at the blue house. After a few weeks' break to reevaluate their plan, students will reopen back at the Maize Career Academy to serve students and the community. Watch the Maize USD 266 Facebook page for more information and future pop-up announcements.
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