Inside the culinary classroom, students are already busy preparing dishes while receiving guidance from instructor and chef Martin Sanchez.
"It's still very light; we want it to be a little bit darker," Sanchez tells students as he helps fine-tune their work.
The Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Pathway has traditionally been a three-year program, allowing students to progress through introductory, intermediate and advanced culinary courses during high school.
This year, students have a new option with the addition of a baking and pastry class.
"I've been asking for it since day one, and I thought it was going to be a good option for kids to do a four-year pathway instead of a three-year pathway," Sanchez said.
The new course will introduce students to baking fundamentals while also developing more advanced pastry skills. Students can expect to learn everything from bread-making techniques to cake decorating.
"They'll learn how to decorate cakes, so they'll learn buttercream, different types of frostings, or gourmet muffins, gourmet cupcakes. Things like that," Sanchez said.
District leaders say the expansion is part of an ongoing effort to align Career Technical Education programs with workforce needs and student interests.
"So the goal of all of our pathways is that students leave us with the skills that they need to enter the industry and some valid certifications that our industry partners are going to respect," said Kristin McKenna, Madera Unified's director of college and career readiness.
Madera Unified currently offers 24 CTE pathways and regularly evaluates programs to ensure students are gaining skills that can lead directly to careers or postsecondary education opportunities.
Sanchez believes the additional year of training will better prepare students for culinary competitions, employment opportunities and even entrepreneurship.
"Everybody eats; it's a life skill. We all have to have it," Sanchez said. "Now with this baking and pastry, they're just going to advance and keep on going."
District officials say the culinary expansion is one of several new opportunities available to students this year.
Madera High has also added an advanced heavy truck course, while Matilda Torres High School now offers a medical assisting class that allows students to earn their medical assisting license while still in high school.
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