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Photo by Ron Burkett.
Anna Hallman, head chef at Hewitt-Trussville High School’s Culinary Academy. Hallman is in her sixth year overseeing the program.
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Photo by Ron Burkett.
Students at Hewitt-Trussville High School’s Culinary Academy learn how to prepare ingredients.
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Photo by Ron Burkett.
Space in the culinary program is limited to 75 newstudents each year, allowing admission to only about half of those interested.
Hewitt-Trussville High School’s Culinary Academy continues to connect students to passion and possibilities.
The coursework is optimized as a three-year program that students ideally enter during their sophomore year. The first year of the program consists of the Hospitality & Tourism class.
Chef Anna Hallman is in her sixth year overseeing the program. Hallman explained that as with the other specialized academies offered through HTHS, the curriculum is guided by individuals with experience in the related field more so than those with education degrees.
“It’s designed to give students a broad overview of all the careers that are available through the hospitality industry. It’s not just how to become a chef. We go over a unit in hotel management. We go over how you can pursue a career as a dietician or sports nutrition,” Hallman said.
If students enjoy the Hospitality & Tourism class, they can continue the program through two more years of Culinary I and Culinary II. “The kitchen we have here at the high school is really state of the art and has every type of equipment you can imagine. So students get to train on the actual equipment that they work on in a restaurant.”
In the kitchen, Hallman guides students through preparing higher end dishes. She also seeks multiple opportunities throughout the course for students to experience cooking for different settings, such as catering a wedding, large scale events such as Paws for a Cause, and opportunities for residential in-home chef services.
Abigail Mitchell is a senior at HTHS and in her third year of the program. “I enjoy the events that we cater, like Paws for a Cause. Even though it’s the most stressful thing, it’s still a lot of fun,” she said.
“I’ve gained a lot of confidence with my knife skills and learning different cooking techniques,” Mitchell added.
She attributes this to the regularity with which the students cook as well as the challenges to prepare unfamiliar dishes.
“I cooked almost all of Thanksgiving dinner last year and I’m looking into culinary schools,” she said.
Hope Bates is a graduate of the program who now attends culinary school at Jeff State on a full scholarship she earned through a cooking contest.
“A lot of my classmates in Jeff State now don’t have any culinary background. Already having that experience puts me a step ahead. I also got to skip a couple classes because in high school, the hospitality and sanitation classes counted for college classes.
“I’ve always loved to be in the kitchen and helping out with cooking. But I didn’t want to do culinary for a job until I joined the program at the high school. After learning from Chef Anna and watching people enjoy the food that I made and doing different events and banquets through the high school program, I realized it was what I wanted to do. It definitely helped me discover my passion for it,” Bates said.
Bates was considering a career in forensics before discovering the possibilities available to combine her passion for science and cooking as a nutritionist.
“One of my favorite things we did was a NASA competition where we followed specific guidelines to cook food that could go into space. It was tested by NASA and we won the competition. It was awesome,” she said.
While attending the program at Jeff State, Bates also works at Birmingham Country Club.
“I get to cater different galas and weddings and banquets. I feel like I’m so out of my league sometimes, but it gives me a lot more experience. Chef Anna introduced me to them. I’m grateful to her for that, too,” Bates said.
Brian Duffett was a senior at HTHS when Hallman began her first year with the culinary program.
“I had no idea what I wanted to do until Chef Hallman said she’d noticed how much I seemed to like the classes and should think about going to culinary school,” he said.
While attending Jeff State, Duffett won the Skills USA national competition, earning him a full scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. After completing his associate’s degree in December, Duffett plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at the school.
As Trussville’s dining options continue to increase, and in anticipation of the redevelopment in the downtown area, HTHS culinary academy students will have little trouble finding work after graduating from the program.
“There’s always a job in the hospitality field. It’s the second largest employer in the nation,” Hallman said. “I tell my students that even if they don’t want to be a chef one day, they could possibly pay their way through college by working as a line cook or a waiter and this program prepares them for that.”
Space in the program is limited to 75 new students each year, allowing admission to only about half of those interested.
“We’re still perfecting the application process. For now, students who come speak to me directly and express an interest in doing this as a career are more likely to be accepted,” she said.
Hallman is currently scheduling catering opportunities for the students for the upcoming year. Those interested can contact Hallman at anna.hallman@trussvillecityschools.com.
