TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Chef Blends Main Ingredients For Students' Success

Edward Bujarski's culinary academy adds a dash of social studies and American history classes in its curriculum

Tribune photo by SCOTT ISKOWITZ

Edward Bujarski was instrumental in developing Wharton High School's culinary academy, an academic-based program that incorporates social studies and American history classes in its curriculum.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOYCE MCKENZIE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

NEW TAMPA - On any given school day, senior Sean May is likely cooking up dreams in the kitchen of Wharton High School's culinary academy.

Not only does the 18-year-old New Tampa resident thrive on the mix of planning and preparing the often-heaping helpings of consumable creations, May has an insatiable appetite for digesting all that his teacher, "Chef" Edward Bujarski, brings to the table.

"I loved him and this class from the minute I walked in," said May, who is in his second year in the program. "He doesn't treat us like students, but like people. He's also very hard-working and dedicated to what we do."

His classmate Alyna Baker, 17, also a senior from New Tampa in her second year of the academy, agreed with May. She has come to admire the teaching style and enthusiasm of both Bujarski and his co-teacher and wife, Lourdes Sarmiento.

"They're awesome," said Baker, who noted that many of their first-year students are unaware the couple are married until halfway through the school year. "Chef and 'Ms. S' are like my second mom and dad."

So it came as no surprise to them when Bujarski, 41, was named the ProStart Florida Culinary Teacher of the Year during the Sept. 6 Florida Restaurant and Lodging Annual Salute to Excellence Awards luncheon in Orlando. ProStart is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation intended to attract high school students into the food service industry.

May and Baker — who aspire to attend The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. — also were recognized for their accomplishments in Wharton's culinary academy. May received a ProStart and Lodging Management Program Excellence Award certificate, and Baker was awarded a $2,000 scholarship toward her post-secondary studies in the field of culinary arts.

Bujarski, who holds a bachelor's degree in hospitality management from Florida International University in Miami and is a Culinary Institute of America graduate, came to Wharton in 2001 with an extensive background in food services management and training.

He was instrumental in developing the school's culinary academy, an academic-based program that incorporates social studies and American history classes in its curriculum and is a model for similar academies that have since cropped up in other schools throughout the district.

Academy teachers connect the two core subjects to the culinary science elective by coordinating their classroom focuses. For example, during the annual Chinese New Year celebration, students read "The Joy Luck Club" in class and cook up Chinese cuisine in the kitchen.

"I think the thing I've found most attractive was the accountability of students learning more about the history and science of cooking and not just about cooking," said Bujarski, who began establishing the program about five years ago, based on an initiative established through the National Career Academy Coalition.

"It's taken a lot of work and a lot of time, but it's one of Wharton's pride and joys," he said.

Joy Conner-Eary, the school district's family and consumer sciences supervisor, described Bujarski as "one of our top culinary instructors in the district."

When Bujarski has been awarded grant funding from the Department of Education for academy development, he has shared those funds with his counterparts at other high schools by purchasing resource books for them to use with their students, Conner-Eary wrote.

Conner-Eary also noted that for the past three summers, Bujarski has trained middle school teachers to teach the course Careers in Culinary.

"Chef Bujarski truly gives his all to education, not only through the sharing of funds awarded to his program, but through the sharing of his vast knowledge and experiences," Conner-Eary added.

Bujarski is not one to pat himself on the back for his accomplishments. Instead, he prefers to give much of the credit to the school administration, his co-teachers and students.

"It's nice to be recognized, and we're all celebrating together," he said.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT