Celebrating French Week with crepes

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Every time I visit the culinary classrooms in Flagler County, I am impressed by the professionalism and drive with which these students pursue food. My visit Wednesday morning to Matanzas High School was no exception. Students were scattered throughout the classroom, some frosting cupcakes to be sold that night at the school’s curriculum night, others adding finishing touches on cookies for representatives at the college fair later in the week, including the largest batch of monster cookie dough I have ever seen.

Two students sat at a treat-filled table near the back of the classroom. In sporadic bunches, students on their way to lunch piled through the door to purchase said treats. Still there was another group of students. Dressed in their chefs’ coats, hats and rubber gloves, these students had a special assignment. They were to act as servers for the lunch meeting that was happening next door in the Black Pearl. These lunches, complete with salads and dessert, has been prepared by the culinary students.

That was all happening in the first 10 minutes I was there.

The real reason for my visit came later when French teacher Christine Milnes arrived with her students. The class has been celebrating French Week and what better way for the students to actively engage in a culture than to eat the food?

After learning the French names for the ingredients, French language students teamed with Lisa Kittrell’s culinary students to learn how to make crepes.

But the culinary adventure is not the only thing happening during French Week at Matanzas High School. Each morning, language students are teaching creature-themed vocabulary to the student body. The photography class has also made slides to go with each vocab word so that students may study them in preparation for Friday games.

“It’s a way to extend French outside the classroom and share vocabulary with the whole student body,” Milnes said. “French is not the most popular language, and I try to promote it because it's still relevant.”

With French Canadian roots on both sides of my family, I can say that I thoroughly appreciate French Week, and I wish that I had learned more French vocab when I was younger. I guess I'll have to settle for French food until I find the time to study the language.