If you've ever been to a volleyball game, a string ensemble performance, or a fundraising cocktail hour at Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAAS), chances are you’ve encountered a number of students selling concessions and offering passed hors d’oeuvres. Those are the members of the Culinary Club, mentored by SAGE Food Service Director Mark Franco since he arrived at the school eight years ago.
The club starts with the basics: learning about the fundamentals of food safety, navigating the kitchen, and developing knife skills. But once the training is out of the way, the students decide where to take things. Over the years, they’ve tackled everything from how to prepare baked Alaska and the secrets of a dynamite sushi roll to how to make an elaborate centerpiece with an ice sculpture. Mark is there to guide them in those ambitious creations, but he also keeps things practical.
“They’re going off to college soon, so we started doing dorm room cooking nights,” Mark said. “We came up with all these things we could make either in a toaster oven or in a microwave.”
Even with all the hands-on interaction and one-on-one instruction, Mark’s role isn’t to run the show.
“It’s the school’s policy that students have to run their own club,” he said. “I’m there in the kitchen with them, and I go to their business meetings, but I can’t be the driving force. So, you have to find the right leaders.”
Finding leaders hasn’t been much of a problem. Now that the club has been established, students know to seek it out. And Mark has an eye for spotting potential. Some members are even younger siblings of SAAS graduates who carried their skills and love for cooking beyond high school.
“Some of them have gone into food service. Obviously 99.9% of them have another major, but what I’ve noticed is they’re inspired,” Mark said of the club members he’s sent into the real world. “They've built some confidence up, and they're able to walk out there and say, ‘Hey, I can cook.’”
Together, SAAS and SAGE are proving that a dining program can nourish more than bodies. It can fuel curiosity, build community, and open doors to a lifetime of skills and confidence.
