Chef G’s Culinary Students Get a Hands On Experience Catering the Military Ball

On May 6^th, a ball or “prom”, was held for students in JROTC. It was a celebration that awarded students of their successes for the year and was a farewell for graduating students. Food was catered, music was enjoyed, and dancing was one of the many activities that occurred at the ball.

Lots of planning goes into catering such an event. The dinner for the ball was provided by none-other than Chef G and her volunteers. Freshman-Nema;  sophomores-Autumn Rohe, Juan Lopez, Nahjai Wooten, Nathaniel Karrasch; and seniors- Kelsey March and Dorian Johnson were Chef G’s culinary assistants in the kitchen for the night of the ball.

Chef G has tons of hands-on experiences with catering events, but for most of the student volunteers, this was a very new thing to them. The fast pace of catering can be super hard on somebody who doesn’t have much experience in the food world. Juan Lopez was one of the first-timers with catering. He shares, “I don’t do well under pressure. I can do what I need to get done, but I panic really badly on the inside.”

Chef G emphasizes that when you’re under pressure like Juan was, it’s important to keep pushing yourself to get the job done. She adds, “That’s exactly what the restaurant industry calls for. There will always be challenges, but the customer experience should be top priority.”

Planning the Military Ball is not a fast task either. The planning started in March when the ball did not take place until May. Sergeant Stone and the senior cadets went over many ideas with Chef G to find the most cost-effective meal that everybody would enjoy.

The Military Ball fed 120 people, so this was a good chance to give students a real-world application of what was being taught in class. It allowed the volunteers to serve customers, cater a large, timed event, follow a schedule, problem solve on the fly, and how to work as a team outside of the regular classroom. Teamwork was the most important part of this event; it’s what made everything happen so smoothly. Teamwork makes the dream work!

As a result the Military Ball was a HUGE success! Everybody loved the food and music, and most importantly had fun.