Culinary, a beloved class that freshmen cannot wait to take senior year, over the summer received a complete new makeover: 16 new kitchens all equipped with two microwaves, either a gas or electric stove and two sinks.

  The culinary room was first built in 1965. The room has had the same layout since the 50s and the school board decided it needed a change.

  Discussions of a brand new culinary room began around the Fall of 2015. It wasn’t until December 2016 the project was out to public bid.

  Mrs. Samaha has been the culinary teacher for three and a half years and two years ago the school board told remodeling the kitchen was in the budget. However, she was still surprised with how much they got done. “I didn’t expect the school would spend the money on this… this is a really nice gift,” said Mrs. Samaha.

  The budget for the culinary room was $693,750; also included in the budget was the lighting project in the PAC where new energy efficient LED house lights were installed. “This was a part of our overall efforts to reduce our energy use,” said Diana Schiraldi, who is the School Business Administrator and Board Secretary.

  Almost everything in the culinary room is brand new. Along with the new stoves, sinks, and microwaves; the room also has ventilation above each stove. This will help prevent the room constantly smoking and up which will reduce the unnoticed fire drills. The only thing that didn’t need to be replaced is the refrigerator, and the washer and dryer.

  The culinary room used to be two rooms: a classroom and the kitchens. But now, the wall separating the two rooms has been teared down making it one. However, Mrs. Samaha misses this feature. “I’m most worried about not seeing an accident or a fire,” said Mrs. Samaha.

  This year, Mrs. Samaha has a goal to have zero fires because she usually has to put out one fire a year. This is why she misses having a small kitchen because it would be easier for her to put it out.

  Although with the fear of kitchen fires being evident, it will not stop this year’s extensive list of recipes the class will make. “Every year I try new things, this year we are doing the food for the fashion show, a gingerbread competition… it’s changing all the time,” said Mrs. Samaha.

  Not only is Mrs. Samaha excited about culinary this year, so the students. “I’ve always been interested in cooking and baking. Culinary gives me the opportunity to learn the specifics,” said senior Jannette Fisher.