When Eric Sutton was asked by Sumner School Board President Sherm Voiles if he would pursue higher education, his answer was a wavering maybe.
“It’s something I might consider in the future, with the experience I’m gaining now, the truth is that what I would learn wouldn’t be (much more),” Sutton said.
Sutton, a Bonney Lake High School 2010 graduate, is currently working in the kitchen of Metropolitan Grill, a high-end steakhouse in Seattle. He is also a former member of Bonney Lake’s Culinary Arts team. Sutton joined team coach and ProStart teacher Kahale Ahina at the Feb. 16 school board meeting to report on the opportunities and advantages available to ProStart culinary students.
“I went through all of Kahale’s classes and… through that I joined the culinary arts team,” Sutton said. “Through the program, I met chef Eric Hellner, who is currently my executive chef up at Metropolitan Grill. So last year, right before I graduated, I was asked to go work for him. That has been a huge privilege for me: right out of high school, I get to work at one of the best steak houses in Washington.
“I couldn’t have done it without Kahale.”
Ahina has brought mentors—working chefs from South Sound restaurants—into the classroom as part of the ProStart education. The purpose is to help students understand what they learn in the context of the real world, and to make professional connections, Ahina said.
Ahina met Hellner several years ago, he said, and after “hitting it off,” Hellner expressed interest in coming into the classroom to assist in demonstrating technique and to inform students of opportunities in the field.
In addition, Ahina has secured the culinary arts team the opportunity to work nine-hour snack stand duty at a University of Washington Huskies game.
Ahina estimated the ProStart culinary classes currently enroll about 80 students, a small number of whom come up the hill from Sumner High School. One Sumner student is enrolled in the advanced culinary course.
For Sutton, the Bonney Lake culinary arts experience is coming full circle.
“Coming Monday (Feb. 21), I get to take a Bonney Lake student (to work),” he said. “She is going to come up and work a shift with me and she gets to see and feel what it’s like to be in a restaurant situation. Going from an hour in class to an eight hour shift (serving) anywhere from 300 to 700 people in one night. It’s really going to give her a feel for what kitchen life is for.
“I know my executive chef would be glad to have more kids to have… the job shadow experience.”
