GCCTC students cook feast for hundreds
Dan Wagner, the culinary arts adviser at Greene County Career and Technology Center, gives orders Friday morning to his students before they begin hosting the school’s annual Christmas Buffet.
Hannah White, a 10th-grader at Mapletown High School, rolls strawberry truffles Friday morning at Greene County Career and Technology Center during the school’s annual Christmas Buffet.
Dan Wagner, the culinary arts adviser at Greene County Career and Technology Center, teaches a student how to carve turkey.
Kyle Sharp, an 11th-grader at Jefferson-Morgan, chops onions Friday morning during GCCTC’s annual Christmas Buffet.
Students manage several pots of food cooking on the stove Friday morning at Greene County Career and Technology Center during the school’s annual Christmas Buffet.
Students fill bowls of food Friday morning at Greene County Career and Technology Center during the school’s annual Christmas Buffet.
WAYNESBURG – When Kyle Sharp yells “hot pan!,” the other students in the kitchen at Greene County Career and Technology Center know to move out of the way.
The kitchen was packed Friday with 32 students in their chef uniforms, carrying food trays and bowls in and out and barking orders to their classmates while putting the finishing touches on desserts and side dishes. The scene was chaotic, but the smell was heavenly.
“It gives you the real-feel for what a working in a kitchen is like,” Sharp said.
This is the 11th-grader’s first year studying culinary arts at the career center and Friday was a big day for him and his classmates. They fed hundreds of people during the center’s 27th annual Christmas Buffet luncheon.
Dan Wagner, the culinary arts adviser at GCCTC, organizes the event each year. Those who purchased the $12 tickets got to eat from a variety of dishes including 20 entrées, 16 salads and several desserts.
Before the buffet started and the line was out the door, Wagner called an organizational meeting with his students, putting them at different stations and giving them different jobs to do. Some would be at carving stations, some would manage the buffet and others would be “runners” – the students running back and forth from the kitchen to the buffet to refill the food dishes.
Savannah Greene, an 11th-grade student at Mapletown High School, is in her third year in the culinary program at the career center. She was one of the buffet managers this year, and said she received plenty of positive feedback from the community as they were digging in.
“That means the most to me,” she said, “that everybody’s having a good time and enjoying themselves.”
Haley Hice, a junior from Carmichaels who’s in her second year in the culinary program, said the Christmas Buffet is a great opportunity for students with dreams like hers. She wants to own, manage and be the head chef of a restaurant someday.
“This gives me a better understanding of how a real kitchen works,” she said. “It shows me perspective on how important teamwork is.”
Sharp, who attends Jefferson-Morgan High School, has a similar dream.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always experimented with cooking,” he said. “I want to have my own family-owned restaurant someday.”
He said the two guest chefs, Jeff McMurdy with Sysco Foods, and Jeff Cecil, who used to cook for Kenney Chesney and George Strait, worked with the students over the past three days to prepare for the buffet.
“We’ve been staying late and doing lots of prep work,” Sharp said.
Wagner called the two chefs “rock stars” and said “this dinner would not be what it is without these guys.”
McMurdy said he was surprised that the students did most of the cooking and the work themselves.
“The kids did a great job,” he said. “They followed instruction very well. I just directed and they got it done.”
The Waynesburg High School chorus and ensemble band performed during the luncheon as people went through the buffet 40 at a time.
Members of the joint operating committee for the career center joked that next year they need bigger plates.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had such a delicious spread of food on a plate ever before,” said Lew May, a member of the committee.