Woodrow Wilson High School special needs class receives funding for cooking courses

Travis Dye's special needs class at Woodrow Wilson High School received a $500 check Thursday from Beckley McDonald's owner Myra Harper to go towards the Nutritional Awareness Program at the school, a way to teach students the basic fundamentals of cooking. 

Harper and her husband own three McDonald's restaurants in the Beckley area, and they present the Balanced Active Lifestyle grant to schools in counties throughout southern West Virginia. 

"The grant is based around teaching all students to make healthy choices," Harper said, "and we're glad McDonald's can be a part of that mix." 

Dye said his class is comprised of 14 students, and the grant money provides them with an abundance of excitement, because taking part in their cooking program is their favorite time of the week.

He said the classes are not just about cooking meals, though. It goes much further than that. 

"We do incorporate a lot of cooking," Dye said, "but it's also about teaching them the benefits of healthy cooking, healthy living and the consequences that come from a non-healthy lifestyle." 

The class also teaches students the importance of cleanliness while cooking, serving sizes, the food pyramid and proper place setting. 

"It really gives them the opportunity to be able to interact with one another and learn basic life skills." 

Dye's teacher's aid Brenda Duesing is in charge of cooking with the students, and said they get the majority of their recipes from two Raleigh County recommended cookbooks. 

"Just like Mr. Dye said, I really focus on teaching them the basic life skills," Duesing said. "Especially teaching them basic life skills through math." 

The students incorporate math into their cooking lessons by measuring ingredients, determining proper temperatures and timing out their recipes. 

Duesing said reading and language arts, believe it or not, are also another aspect of teaching the children how to cook.

"We do a lot of discussing together," she said. "We talk amongst one another about all the different items we will need, and turn it into a list of words for them to go through." 

At the end of the week, Duesing said the students get tested on what they learned during the cooking class. 

"And that can be based on a number of different things," she said, "including safety." 

It is important to teach students the risk factors of cross contamination of ingredients, Duesing said, along with the importance of washing all fruits and vegetables and cooking meat properly. 

"A lot of people take these basic life skills for granted," she said. "But it's crucial we teach these skills to our students." 

"We're really hoping we can teach them how to take care of themselves on their own." 

The students learn more through hands-on activities, Duesing said. "And I'm so excited and grateful we received this grant money to continue these skills with them."

Harper said Dye's class was the first special needs class to apply for the grant, and the first to receive it. 

She called the special needs cooking class "an awesome initiative." 

"Cooking is one of the basic life style skills they teach in special needs classes," Harper said. "It's a very, very important skill." 

Knowing what types of meals to cook and what types of meals are good for you is an important balance to find, according to Harper, and she said she is ecstatic to see Dye's class working so hard. 

"When these students are living with their families that's one thing," Harper said. "But if they're not, it's important they know what's good to eat, what's not, and how to prepare basic meals." 

"I'm excited I was able to distribute this grant to them. I know it'll be put to good use."