A Drizzle of Fun: Culinary’s Valentine’s Day Treat
State High Culinary students work on decorating chocolate covered strawberries prior to Valentine’s Day.
March 21, 2022
Valentine’s Day—a way to show family, friends, and partners love and appreciation. This year, the culinary students at State High decided to help make this day special by partnering with the ROAR Store to sell chocolate-covered strawberries. Strawberries were sold in sets of three for $8 on the first day of selling, and then at half-price at $4 after the first day, becoming a hit with State High students.
Each culinary student had to select the best strawberries that were available for dipping. Then, they “washed the strawberries, dried them, dipped them in chocolate, and put them in containers,” explained Max Zhong, a junior in Culinary Arts. The strawberries took two to three class periods to make.
Some culinary students found the process to be quite painstaking.
“It was kind of a pain because I had to sit there and sort over six hundred strawberries when there was originally probably over eight hundred, and we like threw away two hundred. Oh yeah, and I had to wash all of them and lay them out on towel-covered sheet trays for them to dry, and it was a pain,” said Dennis Inman, a sophomore in culinary arts.
But despite what was an arduous process for many, the culinary students saw the value in what they did.
“We got a grade—is it worth not failing a class? Yeah, I guess so,” sophomore Christopher Smurbeck said, reflecting back on the few classes he had to work on this large project.
After the strawberries were completed, they headed to the ROAR Store to be sold to students. The profits from the strawberries went towards DECA competition expenses. The strawberries were a hit amongst students, something that ROAR Store employees noted.
“We had tons of people coming in buying several boxes. I wasn’t here… but I’d say a good amount [of profit was made],” Tanisha Mal, a senior working at the ROAR Store, said on behalf of her team members.
The chocolate-covered strawberries proved to be a success, with culinary students gaining experience, the ROAR store reaping profits for DECA competitions, and the student body getting a sweet treat on Valentine’s Day.
