44The new Culinary Arts class will require $12,000 of fundraising  in order to buy necessary equipment. On Sept. 5 students launched their first smoothie stand fundraiser to begin acquiring the needed funds.

“It went really well. All of the students were very professional. I thought that they were spot on,” teacher Candice Anderson said. The students who volunteered were given a recipe with measurements needed to make each smoothie. Drinks were sold for $2 each in the main hall, and profits will go towards buying more food for the students to work with in the class.

“At the moment, every cooking utensil we have is donated,” Anderson said. “However, we have developed a partnership with the Oregon Culinary Institute and, throughout the year, they’ll be helping us with some of our fundraisers.”

While the class has been lacking funds from the school district, Anderson has been working to help raise money in a way that will also educate students. The program was started with the goal of helping students learn about cooking as a subject and how to translate it into cooking for other people. This could be a lesson for cooking at simple house party or as an executive chef at a 5-star restaurant, Anderson said. “I learned how to make good smoothies, which was nice,” senior Brandon Hyun said. “I feel like I also learned how to work faster.”

The smoothie stand will be a weekly occurance, with the class taking volunteers for the fundraiser every Friday. “It will hopefully help our athletes prepare for their games,” Anderson said.