By Sama Abudhhir and Miley Vega, Cypress Park HS (A High School Journalism Network collaboration)

Sept. 11, 2025—The baking class is a new senior-level course for students either in their second or third year of the culinary program co-piloted at Cypress Park and Cypress Ranch high schools. The baking class is unique to the culinary program because of its focus on student-driven curriculum.

“There’s a lot of student ownership,” said Zoe Wade, Cypress Park culinary and baking teacher. “In baking, the students are given the category, for example muffins, and the students research the recipe, and they make a menu to send out to staff and make the grocery list.”

Every week the class sends out a menu full of treats and an order form to staff, who can place orders for the students to fill.

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“In baking class we are cooking pastries and in culinary we do both pastries and savory,” said Cypress Park senior Kami Dena. “It does really help with wanting to become a chef or a pastry chef.”

The culinary programs in CFISD begin with Introduction to Culinary Arts, where students earn their food handler certification. Then students can take Culinary I and II, in which they learn the fundamentals of baking and cooking.

Traditionally, culinary at the senior level is considered a practicum course, where students work a job in the culinary field or even work in the school cafeteria, but this wasn’t a fit for every culinary student.

Cypress Park High School senior Daniel Vanegas uses his advanced culinary skills to prep a pastry in the new Cypress Park baking class.

“We still had students who wanted to take a culinary class and be on campus senior year, so this is a great way for them to pursue their passion,” Wade said.

The baking class aims to teach students not only the basics of baking, but also to be a self-sufficient chef.

“The course is great for students who want to get into the food industry and are really passionate about baking specifically since it could be a little harder than cooking in some ways,” Wade said. “But even if a student is not interested in pursuing a career in the food industry, it still gives them the skills to learn how to grocery shop on their own, pay more attention to the price of things and planning several steps ahead. It’s a great class if you want to be a chef or not.”

Editor's Note: This article was written by Sama Abudhhir and Miley Vega, students at Cypress Park HS in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, through a partnership between My Neighborhood News and the District as part of an established high school journalism network collaboration. My Neighborhood News is a proud supporter of local youth and warmly welcomes the opportunity to provide a platform for students to share their work.