Chopping, whisking and inhaling the smell of steam as heat rushes with stoves fired up: from decorating carefully to tasting creations, leading the class is Culinary Arts teacher Christina Martin, who guides her students through  cooking lessons throughout the weeks. The course has two class levels: the first year introduces students to cooking basics, food business management, tourism and leadership. Culinary Arts II takes the skills from I and expands upon them, allowing students to dive deeper into the world of cooking business. 

Senior Abyss Widmann is in Culinary Arts I and appreciates that the class is very hands-on. In the span of the week, class will consist of labs some days in which students learn knife skills, egg skills and more depending on what Martin is teaching. Other days, class will have a slower pace than when students are cooking. “The environment is always encouraging to learn because we’re all beginners in this class. [Martin] definitely lets us all ask questions, and she does demonstrations sometimes. We always watch videos before we do the lab, which is helpful. It definitely is a good learning environment and it’s effective in producing a good understanding of the skills,” Widmann said. 

Martin hopes to create an environment in which students are safe, while also encouraging them to be passionate about what they are doing.  “I want students to feel like what they are doing really matters, and that requires a fast paced, exciting environment during labs, and then a more serious learning environment for the lessons leading up to labs. So every week, it’s dramatically different,” Martin said.

Education had a positive impact on Martin’s life, which is what sparked her interest in education as her career and to have a positive impact on her students as well.

“For me, education was a way to get out of some really tough circumstances, and I had a lot of friends who came from very difficult backgrounds, whether the background was poverty, or maybe English wasn’t their first language, or they were a minority,” Martin said. “No matter what is going on, you can improve yourself and your life and become successful in your own sphere if you become educated. I wanted to be a part of that, and I wanted to help people never give up on their dreams.” 

Martin wanted to be a teacher throughout her life, switching majors from English to History in college. However, she felt as though neither was right for her and made a list of interests to show her campus advisor in university to see if there was a class that suited her interests. 

“While I was waiting, there were a bunch of brochures and advertisements on the wall, and I saw family and consumer sciences education, which I didn’t even know was a thing because it used to be called home economics. I saw that, and it was like a light shone down from heaven,” Martin said. 

Although this is Martin’s first year teaching at Redondo, she has already made an impact on campus by holding fundraisers to give students new opportunities. For example, a lunch box fundraiser for teachers helped the culinary program pay for a hospitality and tourism leadership workshop at Disneyland. The rest of the fundraisers have been to raise money for the Family Career Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) program for which Martin serves as an adviser. FCCLA has over 50 events in which to participate, but at Redondo, students mostly choose culinary service, leadership and food business. 

“I coach all the students, and then they present or compete live, and then they are scored and can receive awards or scholarships or cash prizes depending on who’s sponsoring the events that year,” Martin said. “All the fundraisers that we do are to directly go to benefit students in one way or another.” 

Often, the events that students compete in connect to their career interests and help them gain experience in their chosen field. For sophomore Tyler Throckmorton, the class helped him discover an interest in cooking. “I want to be a chef when I grow up,” Throckmorton said. “It’s good to have cooking skills in life, so you can treat yourself and know what to eat nutritionally.” Martin already has had a positive impact on the class, especially in terms of boosting the excitement her students bring when they enter the room.  

“[Martin’s] teaching ways have really impacted me. I’ve never done culinary before, but she’s a really good culinary teacher,” Throckmorton said. “She’s a hands-on learner, so if we’re doing something wrong, she’ll come over and show us what to do and make sure we’re doing it perfectly.”

 Martin always wanted to help others, and that ultimately is what she is able to do through this new career path at Redondo. 

“I want the students to take value in what they’re doing and really want to gain something out of this,” Martin said. “Even if their major isn’t food-based, they’re using what we learned in class to enhance their lives. That is the most fulfilling part [of teaching].”