WAIMEA — Kathleen Singsong and Bronsen Hiraoka will be up early Sunday morning. “They don’t need to be there as early as the Kaua‘i Community College students, but they’ll be there,” said Chef Kui Souza, instructor for the Waimea High
WAIMEA — Kathleen Singsong and Bronsen Hiraoka will be up early Sunday morning.
“They don’t need to be there as early as the Kaua‘i Community College students, but they’ll be there,” said Chef Kui Souza, instructor for the Waimea High School culinary arts program.
Singsong and Hiraoka are two of the program’s students who have passed a unit on Safety and Sanitation, a requisite for advancing in the program, states a release from Waimea High School.
“Once they pass the Safety and Sanitation, they are aware of how things are in the real world and can take part in some of the community events,” said Leila Kuboyama, a counselor at Waimea High School.
Souza, heading up the program for three years now, said when these students graduate, he’ll miss them.
“It’s notww like workers that once you train them, they are there,” he said. “When it’s time for these students to leave, you start all over.”
The Waimea High School culinary arts program continues to flourish and expand, demonstrated as a group of students huddled around Souza as he pulled trays out of an oven.
Students in the program housed in one of the oldest buildings on campus gain hands-on experience through small-scale school and catering events, two of which include the feeding of lunch to presenters at the school’s annual Career Day and community volunteers and judges for the Senior Project program.
Additional projects include the students working alongside college level students and professional chefs at functions like the American Culinary Federation breakfast which opens its doors at 7 a.m. Sunday at the KCC campus.
Students gain invaluable experience working alongside the many experts at special events such as the recent Burns Dinner hosted by the Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i, the KCC Fine Dining program and other fundraising events.
Faculty lunches and alumni class reunion requests keep the students’ agenda filled.
“We couldn’t do half of the things we do without grants like the one Young Brothers Community Advisory Board is presenting,” Souza said. “More than half of the things you see in this facility is because of community help.”
Souza said during his first year in the program, he never realized the impact of grants to the program.
The program is further enriched through community resources such as the Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i, the KCC Culinary Arts Program, Waimea Plantation Cottages and the Grove Cafe.
Chef Romel Begonia, an alumni and chef at the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa, and chef Mark Oyama of Mark’s Place and Contemporary Flavors Catering and an instructor at KCC culinary arts program, has also been invaluable to Souza and the Waimea High School program.
“Hopefully, we can get this program to become bigger and better,” Souza said, noting he would love to see all of the students outfitted in chef’s uniforms and bigger facilities to make the operation more efficient and productive.
Most of the program’s budget comes from state and federal funds, but it is the contributions from organizations like the YB CAB that allows the Waimea High School culinary arts program to provide a more in-depth and rich experience for its students.
“It’s enjoyable,” Souza said. “It’s hard work, but very rewarding.”
