Food class at Buena has been a difficult shift into distance learning this school year. They did how the class was going to function in a distance learning setting, because of the hands-on learning that would normally occur in class.

Daisy Mastroianni, the foods teacher at Buena, is trying her best to teach more than just recipes. 

“Other units that we have covered are safety and sanitation, nutrition, fat diets, the restaurant industry, and how it has been impacted by COVID,”  Mastroianni said. 

With distance learning, the main problem is encouraging students to get involved. Instead, Mastroianni has her students getting involved at home to earn their grade in her class.

”One thing I like about this way of running the class is that students have to make the whole recipe by themselves…. If we were in school, they would have to work with a group of 4-5 other students to prepare one thing,” Mastroianni said. 

Students cooking individually results in a more challenging experience as students have to complete the recpete by themselves from start to finish, but this can also make for a more enjoyable  experience for students. To ensure the students can each cook the recipe, Mastroianni makes sure that she does everything in her power to supply ingredients for students to make recipes and get the experience.

 “At the beginning of the school year I wasn’t sure how the class would be especially with cooking the recipes but everything has worked out smoothly so far,” senior Nathan Marquez said. 

The class cooks at least two times a month and picks up the ingredients at school. According to Mastroianni students have already made  eggs, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with frosting, pork tenderloin, homemade marinara sauce, chicken parmesan, roasted veggies, omelets among other dishes. Third quarter the class will focus on international food from countries across the globe. 

“When I have a student turn on their camera, it makes me so happy! It is that connection and socialization that is missed the most,” Mastroianni said.