Derek Andrews’ second-period Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) class at Columbia Falls Junior High School can be described as “organized chaos.”
On a snowy Tuesday in November, Andrews’ seventh grade students were immersed in a food truck competition, which required them to dream up an idea for a food truck, construct a cardboard model, make a menu and, at the end of the week, serve up some signature dishes. Divided into small teams, one group created a pancake-focused truck, while another went with biscuits and gravy. Gathered around piles of construction paper and glue, students explained their projects proudly, and more than a few asked Andrews if they could come back at lunch to perfect their cardboard models.
A former college administrator and substitute teacher who took up teaching full-time after the pandemic, Andrews is enthusiastic about his classroom, where students in seventh and eighth grade can become familiar with other cultures while learning lifelong culinary skills. Through community partnerships and private donations, Andrews has created an engaging space for middle schoolers to practice budgeting, cooking and gaining a better understanding of the origin of their food — practices he hopes will stay with them when they leave the classroom.
At Columbia Falls Junior High School, students can enroll in FCS as a semester-long elective. In seventh grade, Andrews focuses on regions of the world, teaching lessons on everything from Ghanaian cacao to Antarctic sledging biscuits. In eighth grade, students study a different region of the United States each week.
“Most of us won’t get to travel to South America or Africa or maybe even Europe, so if they can study a little bit about it and then cook something from that, it makes the connection from the country to their plates,” Andrews said of his lessons.
Ted Miller, the Columbia Falls Junior High School principal, said the combination of traditional classroom learning and interactive cooking endows students with a greater appreciation of the places and people that inspire their recipes. Andrews’ lessons synthesize cultural and historical context with budgeting skills and cooking.
“Of course, most of them enjoy cooking,” Miller said. “But they also enjoy just learning about the areas around the world.”
Beyond exposing students to other cultures and foods, Andrews’ FCS class helps prepare them for a potential career in the culinary world, an ever-growing industry in Columbia Falls and the Flathead Valley. In 2023, the accommodation and food service sector employed 7,118 people in Flathead County, according to the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Only the healthcare and retail sectors outnumbered accommodation and food service in workforce size.
“Being in the Flathead Valley, we have a lot of options for people that want to be in culinary,” Miller said, discussing the doors Columbia Falls’s FCS program can open for students.
Community support has been critical in maintaining and improving the program on a slim budget, Andrews said.
During a Run Wild fundraiser race in May spearheaded by Park Side Credit Union’s charitable foundation, the FCS program raised $9,000 to stock the classroom with new kitchen equipment. This fall, a private donor gave $1,000 for updated cookware. Logan Health donated $500 to buy new blenders, which allowed Andrews to teach a lesson on making smoothies. Clydesdale Creamery helped run a milkshake contest. Parents and community members have donated flour, eggs, sugar, meat and other staples, helping keep the program alive and the students in the kitchen.
With growing community partnerships and steady student interest, Andrews hopes to continue teaching his students to become culinarily savvy and culturally aware.
“He’s really positive and builds really good relationships with kids,” Miller said of Andrews. “They enjoy him as much as the class. It’s a good fit.”
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