Innisfail High School's Chef Cliff Oak is in high demand and burning the candle in two schools.
With the opening of Penhold Crossing Secondary School last month, Oak was asked by school administration to bring his culinary program expertise to the new cafeteria, in addition to his teaching duties at Innisfail High School.
“My days are split between Innisfail and Penhold now,” said Oak of his dual role in the schools. “My morning is spent in Innisfail, teaching and helping students set up the cafeteria for lunchtime and the afternoon finds me in Penhold.”
Oak added that while both programs are similar, the longer running Innisfail cafeteria has a more active catering side than the fledgling Penhold facility.
“Out of the Innisfail industrial kitchen we cater four days a week in addition to cooking healthy made-from-scratch meals for the students and do some events at the Chinook's Edge School Division office as well as at Moose Hall,” said Oak. “As Penhold is a very new program, we are doing lunches for the students and offering pre-made meals to the community.
“Catering will come out of that facility as well in the future,” he added. “We have already started cooking some meals for the teachers for events like parent-teacher interviews.”
Oak sees the advantage of the student involvement model in a number of ways.
“Firstly, when I came to the Innisfail program, there were no students involved in lunch preparation; now there is. From an instructional perspective, it means that students can earn credits while working and getting experience in an industrial setting,” said Oak. “Secondly, with us doing catering for the community, any profits are directed back to the program, and help us provide good quality food to the students.
“Thirdly, in terms of work experience, being part of a catering operation is valuable when students go out and can say they were part of a banquet team,” he said.
He added that while not every student goes on to become a chef, or work in the restaurant industry, he has had four students become chefs, such as Madison Miller and Derek Leyden.
Oak has assistants in Innisfail and Penhold to help him manage his new duties who oversee the students and pass on their skills.
“Vikki Scott works with me in Penhold and she helps the kids prepare the lunches and helps teach as well,” said Oak.
The chef is pleased with the response of the students in both schools, noting that he sometimes just sits back and watches them work.
“These kids are excited to be part of the kitchen,” said Oak. “They are truly motivated to do a good job for their fellow students. In Innisfail, we have a larger kitchen so there are more students but the seven kids in Penhold are just as pumped.”
Oak moved to Red Deer in 1974 to start his apprentice program and took a job three years later in restaurant management before finishing his culinary education, only to challenge the Red Seal certification exam and pass in 2009 after taking a break from the hospitality industry.
“I find that working with the students is a rewarding experience,” said Oak. “I enjoy the challenge of taking students from burning water to being able to make good quality food, or move on to the culinary program in SAIT or NAIT.”
Scott added that both she and Oak enjoy watching when students find that moment when they realize they have learned a new skill and their faces light up.
“It's magical,” said Scott.
Mark Crawford, principal of Penhold Crossing Secondary School, is pleased to get Oak to come to his new school.
“We knew he was doing a good job when he would cater our board lunches, so to have him with us is a privilege,” said Crawford. “We want to be able to emulate the success that Innisfail has had with their program and with the culinary curriculum. It just adds to our school in a positive way.”
