Culinary Arts students produce more than 100 pies for Thanksgiving

The class baked pumpkin, sweet potato and three kinds of apple pie

Four students stood in front of commercial freezers in the Culinary Arts classroom and tried to describe the state of the kitchen while students prepared and baked more than 100 pies to sell and distribute before Thanksgiving.

“It was like a factory in here,” senior Nicole Jackson said.

Learning to work in a high-volume production line, of course, was one of the many lessons students learned while creating the pies, which were made in five varieties: Apple, Apple Crumb, Apple Lattice, Sweet Potato and Pumpkin. Each student had to make each of the five recipes from scratch. They made the dough and filling, then stuffed the pies and baked them.

The pies were sold to families and staff members at the Center for Career Services for $10 apiece. All proceeds will be applied toward purchasing necessary supplies for the program.

On Monday, one of the customers arrived to pick up the two pies he ordered: Advertising & Graphic Design instructor Damian Powers.

In recent days, students were responsible for keeping track of the purchases and payment on a spreadsheet. Each will also each get to pick one pie to bring home before the holiday.

Knowing that their teachers and family members would eat the pies brought a new mindset to the entire process.

“You never know what will happen when you make something for others,” senior Lindsey Espinoza said. “You hope that people will like them.”

Instructor John Damiani has had students produce dozens of pies in the days before Thanksgiving for nearly a decade. His classes will also bake cookies and create cookie trays for purchase prior to the Christmas holiday.

“We want to show the students what it’s like to fill high-volume orders and produce like you would working in a real bakery,” Damiani said.