What’s the Secret Ingredient in This High School Culinary Arts Class?

Students build career and life skills while creating award-winning confections

Learn4Life culinary arts students work in teams while their chef instructor looks on.

LANCASTER, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The aroma of pumpkin pie, brownies and cheesecake is wafting through the industrial kitchen at a Learn4Life high school in Lancaster. Dressed in chef’s whites, culinary arts students are busy prepping the same desserts that earned them top awards at a recent county fair.

Students enrolled in this career technical education (CTE) course earn industry certifications and learn both the art and the business of cooking, baking, catering and restaurant management – all while earning their high school diplomas. Equipped with these new skills, graduating students are well-prepared to qualify for further culinary education or even working in a kitchen right out of high school.

Kitchen experience teaches a host of important life skills.

“Our culinary arts students learn skills that are necessary to be successful in the workforce,” explained the Learn4Life teacher, Chef Tom Shibley. “They have to commit to being in class every day, on time and they learn how to plan, problem solve, and how to collaborate and work as a team.”

After a few weeks of formal classroom instruction covering kitchen and food safety, lessons are taught in the school’s industrial kitchen. This is where students get hands-on experience cooking global cuisine and learning best practices on everything from knife techniques to sharing a workspace. As part of the course’s capstone project, students are divided into teams, where they select a type of cuisine to design, execute and present a multi-course meal.

Student Jeremias, 15, who won a top award for his churro cheesecake, has gotten a lot out of the course.

“My favorite part was working with my team; creating all these amazing dishes and presenting at the end,” he said. “We showed each other what we did and shared the food that we made. I just really like being with my team and working with them on these dishes.”

This love of teamwork isn’t always shared by teens – in fact, studies show that 49 percent of young people prefer to work alone.¹ High social media usage and pandemic-driven isolation mean a large portion of Gen Z youth missed out on crucial in-person experiences during their formative years.

Even so, employers consistently seek out candidates with strong soft skills like teamwork, problem‑solving, communication, dependability and professionalism. These traits rank highest in surveys like National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) 2026 Job Outlook, where teamwork (85 percent), problem‑solving (82 percent) and communication (78 percent verbal, 72 percent written) topped employer priorities.²

That’s why Shibley and other teachers at Learn4Life schools weave these skills into classes and CTE programs.

“So, while they’re having fun cooking or in other enjoyable elective classes, they’re learning to work well with others and build rapport,” he said. “And I let the students know that it’s okay to make a mistake, learn from it and move on.”

Learn4Life is a network of 90+ public charter high schools that offer personalized learning, flexible schedules and an array of job skills training programs. For more information, visit www.Learn4Life.org.

About Learn4Life

Learn4Life is a network of nonprofit public high schools that provide students personalized learning, career training and life skills. Each school is locally controlled, tuition free and gives students the flexibility and one-on-one attention they need to succeed. Serving more than 64,000 students through a year-round program, we help them prepare for a future beyond high school. For more information, please visit www.learn4life.org.

¹ Gen Z, Teamwork, and Workplace Dynamics

² NACE job outlook survey