Carson culinary program among top in nation " and in trouble

Penny Reynolds is a multitasker.

In a two-minute window on Tuesday morning, The Carson High culinary arts teacher sent two e-mails, fixed an ailing printer, taught a student how to make a hollandaise sauce (hint: "Put the peppercorns and white wine vinegar in a pan " and toast 'em to get the flavor out of it ... cook the egg yolks on a separate double-broiler and add the two"), explained how proud she is of her team's fourth-place finish at a recent national competition " and lamented pending budget cuts.

... And then a deep breath...

"Did you get all that?" she asked as she removed a toner cartridge from the printer, urging it back to life by blowing on it. "Life gets pretty hectic around here sometimes.

"Follow me to the kitchen."

Reynolds, clad in a UNLV chef's smock, stands about shoulder high to most of her students. But when she enters her domain at the Carson High kitchen, all activity " the squeak of oven doors, the whir of blenders, the cadence of knife blades on cutting boards " seems to ebb in movie-like fashion.

Members of Reynolds' culinary class run a restaurant open to the public out of Carson High on weekdays. Tuesday's menu included eggs Benedict, an apple-themed dessert and an array of fresh fruits and juices.

"It's spring now, we're getting close to the end of the year," Reynolds said. "It's exciting, and a little sad."

"It's bittersweet," said junior Chase Losche, 17, a member of the culinary program and one of the four on school's nationally recognized management team. "But, you know " we'll be back next year."

"Next year," Reynolds said. "Well, let me just get through today."

In a less harried moment, when she's only doing three things at once, Reynolds looks ahead to fall 2008 and laments state budget cuts and what they portend for the culinary program at Carson High.

With more than 170 students, Reynolds said hers is one of the more populous curriculum offered at the school.

"I have 95 percent of my students go on to college," she said. "The others go to the military or work.

"And they're focused " they've found a career early on. Many go to culinary school. In a state run on hospitality, they develop a useful skill set in their teens and as they mature, they join a work force that demands the skills they have."

If, along with national accolades, community feedback and support is the true measure of a program's success, consider Carson High's culinary program one of the top in the nation, Reynolds said.

"We're here talking today because of the support we've had in Carson City," she said. "We had a bridge club come in one day, and all these women, they said they wanted to give us a check.

"Where else are you going to find that?"

Indeed, it was the community that stepped up to help the program's ProStart Student Invitational team made up of juniors Jonathan Kane, 17, Brittany Shirey, 17, and Tracy Morris, 17, along with Losche, raise $8,000 needed to send them to nationals late last month in San Diego.

The quartet took top honors at the state competition held in Las Vegas in February. Beyond the mad dash to raise cash to subsidize the trip, they studied, trained and prepared for the competition that eventually brought more than just recognition.

"When you place in the top five, you earn scholarship money, along with the exposure to the judges, who are some pretty famous people," said Morris. "It's out of 35 schools, so there's a lot of competition. It was a pretty fun, and, yeah " I guess a little stressful."

The team, three of whom say they're already planning on attending culinary academy Johnson and Wales University in the fall of 2009, is eager to come back next year and compete at an even higher level.

But Reynolds knows their wish may be a tall order " and one that has nothing to do with the students' ability.

"The future's just so uncertain," she said. "We're facing big-time budget cuts for (career and technical education) programs."

In January, Gov. Jim Gibbons ordered $92 million of cuts in public education to make up for the state's estimated $800 million shortfall.

About $63 million of the cuts were made by postponing the start a performance pay plan and expansion of full-day kindergarten.

The state's 17 school districts were told to come up with the remaining $29 million.

One causality has already surfaced.

Students from Carson High's in-state culinary program rival, Moapa Valley High School, who this year took top honors at the ProStart statewide culinary competition " and usually trades first-place finishes with Carson High, will not return next year to defend their crown.

"Their program is going away," Reynolds said. "It's horrible. It's a shame. But it's a sign of the times.

"Our district has been great to us. But they've got choices to make. It's just so difficult. If I get money, does that come at the expense of an elementary school's art program?"

As students put the finishing touches on lunch Tuesday, laughter and shouts of a hectic kitchen prevailed.

"I think all of us are looking forward to working a little this summer and using what we've learned," Shirey said.

The school's restaurant will serve its last lunch of this school year Thursday, until next year.

"Yeah, we're excited to come back," Kane said. "We have a lot of people to thank for getting us as far as we did. You (just) hope that support continues."