The Career and Technical Education Dinner is a biannual event at Powell High School, where the culinary arts classes cater to the CTE. This year, the Mexican buffet was delectable and one of the best dinners provided in years.

This year’s dinner focused more on being delicious and was constantly taste-tested to ensure high quality. The precise planning generated a meal that was loved by all.

“I think we made more of a point of not having everything super seasoned… I think they made good choices on the food,” culinary teacher Mrs. Culwell said. “[Students] knew that it was going to be a nacho bar, then ran with a variety of meats that could go on it, and then what you would put on it to enhance it.”

One unique aspect of this dinner was the buffet-style of serving, where guests would serve themselves instead of plates being handed to them.

“I liked [the buffet], it was very diverse,” sophomore Leeanne Phillips said. “I like how I could customize my plate.”

The choice of food and the ability to personalize your plate were innovative features of the CTE dinner, and many patrons were awed, though some claimed the meal was not authentic enough.

“It was kind of like nachos, kind of like a nacho salad, and I feel like we typically don’t really have that,” junior Neveah Garcia said. “If you wanted more of a Mexican touch to it, you could add, like, a tres leches cake.”

One issue with a self-serve buffet is the difficulty in interaction between the attendees and the culinary arts class because plates aren’t handed out, but despite this hardship, the culinary arts program pulled through.

“I thought [students] did a great job in serving the people and going up and seeing if everything was to their liking,” work experience teacher Mrs. Schiermeister said. “If they needed anything, you could get them water, or you could get them whatever. I thought it was great.”

With good food, customizability, and service, it was disappointing that so few CTE members were eating at the dinner, puzzling many.  

“I think it’s the time of year,” Mrs.Culwell said. “We normally have this in April, early April… but this time of the year, there were so many other activities going on that even some of our CTE teachers were unable to attend because they had another meeting that could not be changed.”