It's a mouth-watering morning in Charmaine Laing's culinary arts class at Miami Edison Sr High School, and today's menu has a little something for everyone.
"On the menu today we have pizza balls, we have garlic bread, croissants ham rolls and vegetarian pizza," say Ms. Laing
And all this deliciousness gets washed down with a homemade citrus basil drink with oranges and lemons. It's a feast for these kids and for the school to enjoy.
"Oh the kids eat it all, sometimes the kids send some over to the administrative office but the kids clean it up quickly," says Laing.
Of course with food this good and chefs this talented, it's only fair that South Floridans all over town get to experience what these kids are cooking.
Ms. Laing's students took 3rd place at the Miami Dade Wolfson Culinary Arts competition last year. Every year her students feed thousands of people at different festivals in Dade County.
"It's fun we get to meet different people and we get to learn how to make different things especially healthier choices for us to eat. We got to know each other better as classmates and students," Esther Cadet, 10th Grader, Miami Edison Sr. High.
" Truthfully speaking what makes Ms. Laing a great teacher is just her human nurture, very nurturing. You don't need to have Ms. Laing's class to know who she is, she's very caring, very dedicative so everyone loves Ms. Laing and also the food that she makes is delicious.
And the skills she's teaching her students will give them a lifetime of benefits.
"Most of them enjoy working in the kitchen. Weather they are in college they can do part time jobs in the kitchen, I have students that are assistant managers, and managers right now. They come back and show me stuff that they are doing and we have kids that go to them to get interviews for jobs too. It's very helpful," says Ms. Laing.
So give it up for Charmaine Laing, a master in the kitchen, a leader in the classroom and this week's super teacher.
