Lunch at The Owl Café
~ The following first appeared in the May 15, 2014 issue of The Floyd Press.
Linneya Cooley says she didn’t know how to cook before participating in a Culinary Arts class at Blue Mountain High School (BMHS). Now she makes marinara sauce each Monday morning for stuffed manicotti shells, a lunch entree at the school’s Owl Café.
Located over the high school in the EcoVillage’s Conversation Cafe, The Owl Café is run by eight BMHS students, under the supervision of Chef Jason Loftus, and is open to the public on Mondays from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m.
“They do all the work,” said Loftus (pictured far right). He explained that the students do the cooking. They wait on and serve customers and even designed the menu, after surfing the internet for ideas.
Ryan Leedom has some past cooking experience. “But I’m better at it now,” said the student, as he turned up the heat on the grille while preparing a hamburger in the EcoVillage’s certified commercial kitchen.
May 19 (today) is last Monday before summer vacation and the last chance this school year for the public to sample the student’s culinary creations. Chef Loftus encourages those interested to check out The Owl Café Facebook page.
“The hands-on aspect of the Culinary Arts Program has been very popular with the students. It’s a good example of what project-based learning can offer,” said school director, Joe Klein.
Post notes: Watch a video clip of students in the kitchen of the Owl Cafe. The last photo shows an EcoVillage resident sharing a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich with her 2-year-old son. The sandwich is made on gluten-free bread and is served with homemade tomato soup, for a price of $5.
May 19th, 2014 8:37 am
that is so cool!
May 19th, 2014 9:38 pm
So cool. My daughter is a line chef in a kind of gourmet shop right now–very interesting. Thanks. k.
May 25th, 2014 10:49 am
[…] Blue Mountain High School students (where my husband is director) were asked to stand and take a bow for their work as interns […]
May 27th, 2014 4:54 pm
[…] I didn’t see Jackson’s presentation on building a remote control plane, or his brother Nolan’s on a Justice class that was taught by his Harvard Professor uncle via skype. I heard that the class, which included video lessons and reflections and was taught at Harvard, was so popular that another student joined in. I also missed Ryan and Camille’s presentations. Ryan’s was on real life skills that he learned in the school’s Culinary Arts program and Camille’s was on music video production. Read about the Culinary Arts Student Cafe project HERE. […]