New Baking Program Coming to SRTC

Classroom where the culinary and pastry art programs will take place.
Photo: Grace Pearson
By Grace Pearson, Sanford High School Senior
The Sanford Regional Technical Center (SRTC), part of Sanford High School, has many different types of programs for students to enroll in from law enforcement to culinary arts. This year, they are introducing a new baking program. Applications are being received now for current sophomores at the high school and other partner schools in York County. The program aims to enroll about 30 students, evenly split between culinary and pastry arts.
After eight weeks of being in one program, they will switch. By the end of their first semester, they would do one quarter in each program. In their second semester, the students will stay in either pastry or culinary arts.
The culinary students will continue to run the SRTC restaurant. The pastry students will produce pastries for the restaurant, such as muffins and danish pastries. Customers will have the option to sit down and eat, or they could take things to go. Pastries can stay in the pastry case, where people come in and take from to bring their pastry home. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the restaurant will be closed to the public this year but will open again next year along with their new pastry program.
During the second year of the program, students will decide which area they want to focus on for the whole year. This is when the pastry instructor, who will be hired in the spring, will teach students how to make more advanced pastries. “After getting the basics, they can “major” in one or the other their second year, kind of like a college,” said SRTC Director Matthew Petermann.
“I’m really looking forward to working with a real pastry chef and seeing what those students will be able to produce that I was never able to show them. Just to see- wow, these are high school students that are creating this stuff,” said Culinary Arts Instructor John Couture.
Students use a lot of professional equipment. They have a walk-in fridge and freezer, plus three types of ovens: conventional, convection, and stack. Stack ovens have a slate called a hearth, which allows students to control the heat from above or below, so they can make artisan breads and pizzas, among other things. There are also many other unique controls on stack ovens that other ovens do not have. Stack ovens are from a high-end company in France called Doyon. Couture noted, “we’re fortunate to have them.” He explained that many bakeries don’t have them because they’re expensive.”
Other equipment they have are rolling carts with sheet pans for breads and pastries that can be wheeled into the fridge or freezer. They also have a proof box for yeast breads and several professional mixers of various sizes.
They took a lot of inspiration from the culinary program in Lewiston. “The kids love it. They find their own path and they all work together,” said Petermann. Couture added, “Some of the cakes that those kids put out are incredible-professional looking wedding cakes. We hope to bring that sort of experience to students.’
Students in the baking program will get to participate in several competitions, including a cake decorating competition at SkillsUSA in Bangor and a commercial baking competition.
Students will also become certified in ServSafe, a food and sanitation program provided by the National Restaurant Association. The certification is a requirement for food establishments in Maine and several other states.
These culinary and baking programs are also very useful for students after graduating. Couture has a former student that started her own company as a senior in high school and is now earning a lot of money as a pastry chef. Some places also favor hiring people who are already certified, since the restaurant won’t have to pay for it. “I’ve had students come back to me and say, “Chef, I got a job, and part of the reason I got a job is because I had my ServSafe certificate,” said Couture.
Couture is looking forward to seeing students putting out some high-end, quality pastry. “If you get a student that’s very passionate about cooking or baking, they can do some real good things if they have somebody to guide them.”

The post New Baking Program Coming to SRTC appeared first on Sanford Springvale News.