Family and Consumer Sciences

We will “travel” throughout the country, preparing foods and beverages that are representative and characteristic of each region of America that we explore: the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Northwest, the Pacific Coast and the Southwest, ultimately ending our road trip in Hawaii and Puerto Rico!  In addition to preparing regional cuisine, we will be learning about the history, heritage, climate, and customs of the people who inhabit these areas, being sensitive to the vast cultural differences that make us the great United States! 

Find out what all children need to become happy and healthy!  Infancy, bottle feeding vs. breast-feeding, diapering, and sleep habits are a few topics that will be covered.  Learn to prepare baby formula, homemade baby food and food for small children.  Child abuse, child neglect, cloning, and toy safety, are a few subjects that will be discussed.  Infants and children are our guests in class and child care centered careers will be explored.  See what the demands of parenting are all about!

There are no prerequisites for this course, however, you should be willing to learn about the important role that nutrition has in maintaining your health.  Be prepared to learn about carbohydrates, both good and not so good, the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to fat and how vegetarian protein can be as tasty as animal protein.  Discover where Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K are hidden in foods we eat (or maybe we don’t eat, but should) every day.  Don’t worry if you’ve never cooked before, you will after taking this class!  You must be willing and adventurous to try new foods, and experiment with a few food science principles as we work our way through all food groups, preparing some new foods, such as fruit pizza and granola, but also some which are near and dear to all of us like macaroni and cheese with a twist, or spaghetti and meatballs, and even cheeseburgers!  Homework will be minimal, but full participation in class is a must! It’s fun and fast paced, and most of the time you will be preparing and eating your own food!

Food science integrates many branches of science and relies on the application of the rapid advances in technology to expand and improve the food supply. Students will evaluate the effects of processing, preparation, and storage on the quality, safety, wholesomeness, and nutritive value of foods. Building on information learned in Nutrition and Wellness and Chemistry, this course illustrates scientific principles in an applied context, exposing students to the wonders of the scientific world.  

Gourmet Foods focuses on complete preparation and management of gourmet meals. Specific topics include appetizers, soups, salads, sauces, main courses, and desserts. Students taking this course may be able to participate in a field trip to the Culinary Institute of America.

Climb aboard as we “travel” the world, learning about new cultures and cuisines! Learn about world geography and how it affects agricultural products, and where much of our food customs have evolved from. We “visit” such places as Japan (where we make sushi and sukiyaki), Germany (Black Forest Cake is a favorite among students!), Mexico (in which of course we celebrate Cinco de Mayo), Italy (cannoli and lasagna), and France (French Onion Soup) to name just a few of our food labs.  You will learn to work quickly, efficiently, safely and collaboratively as a team. You may even find that you want to impress your family with your new found talents by cooking for them. Our final project may even involve a chef competition that mimics “Chopped” from the Food Network!

If you have ever wondered why your parents made certain decisions for you that you disagreed with or look back at your childhood and remember all the fun times you had, then learning to cope with raising children or how your upbringing helped to shape who you are, are ideas that you will explore. Did you know that your birth order affects who you become and your parents’ actions will help to determine the type of parent you will be? Additionally, you will have an opportunity to care for an anatomically correct infant doll that is computerized to interact with its caregiver and is meant to simulate the care of a newborn infant.  Your ability to participate will be based on positive parental permission and successful timely completion of all home and school work.

Recommended for ninth-graders. Deal with problems faced by teens today.  You choose the topics and we discuss them.  Learn to use good communication techniques, problem solving and decision making in order to reach your goals.  Part of the class time is spent on projects and guest speakers.  How do you get along with your family and friends?  How do you handle a crisis?  How do you raise a family when both parents work or when there is a single parent family?  These and many more important teen issues will be explored.

In commercial foods class students will participate in both personnel management and meal preparation aligned with the principles of volume food production. The students will learn pricing, production, personnel direction, and menu planning through a series of student created events. Quality control, cost management, and food safe production standards will be the central focus of the course.  

It is recommended that students have taken multiple cuisine/food courses prior to enrolling in Commercial Foods.