WOODBURY — From chopping, to crisping, to collaborating, Region 14 culinary arts classes prepare students for 21st-century culinary skills.

In April, Nonnewaug culinary teacher John Dominello invited eighth-graders from Woodbury Middle School to work in tandem to learn the ways of the high school kitchen.

Michael Hadoulis, the culinary teacher at Woodbury Middle School, spent time working with Dominello’s classes, hoping to get his students in a different environment with the opportunity to learn new things from Nonnewaug students.  

“Michael Hadoulis and I got together and thought it would just be us getting together to make lunch for ourselves,” said Dominello. “Then turned to the idea of, what if we turn it into a community service event where we would make [soup]?”

Eighth-graders joined the high schoolers in the kitchen April 9 to make minestrone soup, package it, and ship it out. Together, they made 18 gallons of soup to provide to local senior citizens. Working together, Dominello’s students were the instructors for the day and taught the middle schoolers some of what they know.

“It was interesting to see the skills that they already had and watch them use those skills while we taught them,” said junior advanced culinary student Haylee Molina. “It was cool to see how some of them took they skills they learned and applied them.”

“We have the high schoolers mentor the middle schoolers a little bit and introduce them to what we do here at Nonnewaug and in the culinary arts,” Dominello said. “It gave us a chance to provide community service, and it aligned with our curriculum, as well as [allowing us to] collaborate with some of our middle schoolers and high schoolers.”

By seeing the middle schoolers active in his kitchen, Dominello saw all of the hard work Hadoulis is doing with his eighth-graders. It also gave Dominello an insight of what he will be looking forward to next year when they are in his kitchen.

“It really all starts with Mr. Hadoulis at the middle school and the foundations,” said Dominello. “The students that came here [April 9] with him, I can really see that they are ready for high school, and they all show incredible skills and all worked extremely hard, and I can see that they will be ready for when they get here to jump right into Culinary 1.”