CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A culinary program in Cherry Creek Schools is finding a new way to get kids out of the classroom and prepared for future careers.
At the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, kids are cooking and serving students from a food truck that was converted from a school bus that's been turned into a state-of-the-art kitchen.
The food truck opened up for business Thursday and demand is already high. "Hi, I can help you over here," said Savannah Mitchell, a junior with CCIC's apprenticeship culinary program.
When you're grabbing a quick bite for lunch, you want service that's fast and good-tasting food. That's a lesson Mitchell and her fellow students are learning firsthand as they cook for and serve their classmates.
"Yeah, definitely," Mitchell said.
The steady stream of students coming in is helping her and her classmates get settled on their first day.
"Yeah because it's definitely busy in the back of the house, working on all the food," Mitchell said.
Chef Dave Bochmann gives his students a taste of the culinary world from this unconventional classroom.
"We opened our food truck this week," said Bochmann, ProStart three teacher at CCIC's Advanced Culinary Program.
"It's a nice, new venue for students to use so they can learn about the business plan and what it takes to start a food truck. And possibly, when they graduate high school then they have a viable option for a career choice," Mitchell said.
The truck plays its part in the advanced culinary program. Here, the kids put their grilling, slicing and dicing skills to the test.
"The students, the crew that I have now, we did a couple weeks of training and then, I do one sample plate for them and I let them go. And they did fantastic," Bochmann said. "We have real customers, they're paying real money and we're providing a service for them which I think is a lot more real for the students that way."
"Yeah, it's really fun. They're all really energetic," Mitchell said.
The students are serving their classmates now, but Mitchell said the work here sets her up for a future career in the culinary industry. Her dreams get one step closer to reality with every meal she makes.
"I would love to have my own restaurant but I'm probably going to go be a pastry chef somewhere," Mitchell said.
Bochmann said they'll keep the food truck in-house for a while serving the more than 2,000 students on campus.
But soon, they'll take the truck and the culinary students out to serve up their cooking at school events and venues.
Bochmann said they've already got requests for these students and the food truck booked about a year out and they're ready to get to work.