Huntsville High School students cater winter games.
HOT CHOCOLATE? Huntsville High School tech food program students Travis Thomson and Raymond Bruyns offered smiles along with hot chocolate to chilled athletes, volunteers and spectators at the Ontario Winter Games on the weekend.
Pamela Steel
HUNTSVILLE - A high school exercise in real-life catering was a success at the Ontario Winter Games in Arrowhead Provincial Park on the weekend. The new Huntsville High School Community Event Trailer was on hand to provide warming food and beverages to the athletes, volunteers and spectators. It’s all part of the food tech program at the school.
Instructor Stephen Spiers said four volunteer students served 175 people a day. Their menu featured beef and veggie chili varieties, hot chocolate, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, milk and juice. “We had three classes work on the food,” he said. “We had a big production line working on sandwiches and chili on Thursday and Friday.”
The catering events cover their costs and raise funds to keep the costs of the program in line. But it’s not about the money; it’s about giving youth interested in pursuing a hospitality career hands-on experience.
“That’s pretty much the mantra of our course,” said Spiers. “We need to have real-life experiences; we can practice volleyball all day long, but until we have a game we don’t know how good we are.”
The hospitality and tourism program at the school has a strong culinary element. It offers a specialist high skills major option for students in Grade 11 and 12 who have a keen interest in pursuing a culinary career.
“We start to stream them in their courses,” said Spiers. “They take food courses and co-ops and they get a bunch of certifications like WHMIS and food safety. At the end of the day, they come out a step ahead of other people vying for kitchen jobs.”
The Community Event Trailer is new to the program, allowing the students to get some off-site experience and providing an opportunity to showcase the program. It was purchased in April and outfitted with the help of sponsors like Robinson’s Independent Grocer, Muskoka Rent-All, Hilltop Signs and Cavalcade Color Lab.
Spiers is hoping to cater the upcoming cross-county school races and to eventually see the trailer visiting feeder schools for school community events.