A Dallas-area high school culinary program is racking up awards and top-notch expertise and food trucking all around campus: Lancaster High School, whose culinary program has been elevating students’ cooking skills over the past year with cooking competitions and a brand new food truck.

Chef LaTina Dawn, who leads the program, took charge as culinary arts teacher in the career and technical education (CTE) department in 2016. Dawn has helped expand the program — previously exclusive to 10th-12th graders — to ninth graders at the Barack and Michelle Obama Ninth Grade Center. Lisa Bray and Kymberlye Hunt assist Dawn with the classes, which have a combined 200 students enrolled.

Dawn, dubbed Chef D by her students, went to culinary school at El Centro College before obtaining her masters in education at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. Teaching in the classroom and kitchen just fell into place for her.

“I come from a long line of chefs in the family, so I did know that I wanted to cook and work with youth, but I didn’t know how I wanted both of those to connect,” Dawn says. “Then I went to culinary school and realized that as a leader in culinary school, I like to teach.”

The curriculum, which runs the full school year, features four levels, including introduction to culinary arts, foundations of restaurant management, food science, and two practicums. Aside from cooking dishes like Indian butter chicken, steaks, and barbecued and grilled meats, students also learn hospitality and catering.

BBQ is a big deal in the program, especially ribs and brisket. This year, a team of students participated in the HS BBQ competition, which features high school BBQ teams across Texas competing for a state title.

Lancaster ISD food truckLancaster ISD

In September, the district acquired its first food truck, which serves Lancaster ISD staff and students. There's no set menu, but dishes range from BBQ to tacos.

The program has caught the attention of well-known food & beverage figures such as chef Dean Fearing, who paid them a visit in October ("Wow - I had no idea that this school had such a fantastic culinary arts program! The culinary classes learned how to make BBQ Shrimp Tacos and did a top notch job!" Fearing said); and Breakfast Brothers owner Rickey Booker, who featured winners of the Student Chopped competition on his CW33 show In the Kitchen with the Breakfast Brothers.

"I would say out of all the students, about 60 percent have gone on to work at local restaurants and or start their own business," she says. "A few restaurants that they have worked at are Raising Canes, Bojangles, Braum's, and Chili's."

Students have attended culinary programs at Dallas College, University of Houston, and University of North Texas in Denton; they've also been accepted for scholarships at Escoffier in Austin and The Culinary Institute of America.

"The biggest takeaway is to see students that were afraid to step into the culinary world go out and excel in their own culinary businesses, which I've had several do," Dawn says. "From competing in competitions when at first you couldn't even get them to say 'hi' in the classrooms, that's what culinary does. You can put a plate of food in front of someone and take them into a different world."