Students during Period 3 in Culinary Nutrition preparing their kitchen for the first lab of the year.
Consumer Sciences
Currently producing around 17,000 dollars annually, consumer sciences is at a stunned loss with losing so much money in the future.
Consumer sciences classes include a large spectrum, adding to around thirteen total courses. Kara Felske is a current teacher for Culinary Nutrition, Catering 1, Fashion Design and Merchandising 1, Fashion Design and Merchandising 2, and Interpersonal Relationships. All listed require fees except Interpersonal Relationships, the price spanning from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars.
This will change the courses tremendously in the future, threatening the future enrollment. “We’re really worried about how many labs we’re going to have to cut down on,” Felske says.
The average number of labs for Catering 1 includes eighteen to twenty labs which is no longer a possibility, harming one of the sole reasons students sign up for the class.
Felske explains the future for some classes, “I’m having to do a lot of ingredient substitutions for like cheaper ways to do things, which means that we’re going to be sacrificing the flavor.”
This change not only affects students but the lives of teachers. If fewer students enroll for certain classes the specific teachers might be obsolete and without income.
“I don’t have a job if people don’t want to take my classes,” Felske says.
Similar to other subjects, these courses are at a loss. Ms. Felske appreciates the idea of equitable education, but overall these actions are affecting our district in a negative way.
“It’s frustrating but such is life,” Felske adds.