A Look Inside the Culinary Camp at Benito Juarez Community Academy

While the hallways and classrooms at Benito Juarez Community Academy aren’t as bustling as they would be during the school year, the school’s culinary arts classroom is one part of the school building that is still getting good use during the summer. Modeled after a professional kitchen, this classroom is typically where the magic happens for the school’s culinary arts career and technical education (CTE) program. Over the summer, Juarez hosts a CTE culinary arts summer camp, mainly for middle school students and rising Juarez freshmen. 

Every day brings something new at this camp. One day may require students to work in small groups to bake scones or muffins. Another may take them to Kendall College to tour the facilities and learn more about pursuing a degree in culinary arts. The camp even incorporates student voice by allowing students to create the menu for their final day of camp themselves. 

One day was all about making pasta. Students first had to assemble the dough and run it through a pasta maker to ensure it was the right thickness and create their desired shape. They learned tips and tricks throughout the day, everything from sprinkling their trays with semolina flour to keep the fresh pasta from sticking to learning the proper way to slice bread from Chef Oropeza, the camp’s main culinary instructor.

Chef Oropeza was not shy about imparting his knowledge on his students. In a ten-minute period, they were instructed to never add oil to their pasta water (because then the sauce will slide off) and reminded what a spyder is used for, and even given a geography lesson on the region of Italy where bolognese sauce originated. Did we mention that the students made bolognese sauce from scratch, too?

The camp has been so well-received that some students were returning for a second summer. Scarlett is a rising seventh-grader at Brentano Math and Science Academy who shared that she decided to come back because of her love for cooking and baking. She explains that the experience of being in a professional kitchen helped her grow her skill set quite a bit. For example, she learned about the creaming method, an approach to mixing butter to produce lighter and fluffier baked goods. 

Even though she and her fellow students weren’t able to make perfect pasta right away—some holes would appear in their dough from time to time—they kept working at it and ended up with a delicious finished product. Scarlett’s favorite creation during the camp? Muffins—blueberry, banana, and chocolate chip. 

The culinary camp symbolizes the strong sense of community embedded within the culinary program at Juarez. One of the culinary assistants in the program is Chef Jade, a graduate of Juarez who is now pursuing a degree in African American history and special education at the University of Illinois Chicago.

She eventually sees herself having her own classroom, which is why she uses culinary arts, the same program that she participated in at Juarez, as an entry point to build relationships with students and support them however she can. She notes that she loves to approach her role from her students’ point of view, as this allows her to advocate for their needs. You can expect to see her helping out with Juarez’s culinary club every Tuesday this school year. 

Also assisting in the kitchen this summer is Josue, a rising senior at Juarez who is hoping to pursue a career in the food industry. The highlight of the summer for him was making pizza with the students. Even though he says it was hectic, he enjoyed watching the students unleash their creative freedom. He’s received many compliments for his ability to connect with the middle school campers. His secret sauce? Being honest and kind with them builds a level of trust that makes working together enjoyable, especially when their teamwork leads to glasses of homemade lemonade. 

The students’ hard work goes beyond mixing, slicing, and other cooking techniques. Throughout the camp, they’re also responsible for keeping the kitchen clean, just as they would be in a potential future culinary career. But their efforts are always worth it when they get to sit down together and enjoy what they’ve made. The consensus on their pasta with homemade bolognese sauce: delicious, especially because it was all made from scratch. 

Interested in seeing firsthand how the students’ pasta came together? Check out the additional photos below.