52-Head Principal Chef Mike and the National High School BBQ Association

<p>•  I grew up in Central Texas, and barbecue is part of our state. Obviously, we love beef, but then you've got all kinds of other barbecue all over the United States and in the world. And I thought, what better way to teach meat cookery. We all teach it. I taught it in college, I taught it in high school, when I was in culinary school, they taught us about meat cookery. So why now use the good old fashion American tradition of BBQ as a teaching methodology and use project-based learning to bring groups of kids together around a live charcoal fire or a wood fire fit, and learn how to cook different kinds of meat. (2:54)</p><p>• I've developed a curriculum and a website, and now the National High School BBQ Association to show other school districts and other teachers, how easy this is to implement into your community and make money for your own kids, for your own program. Engage your kids, once they eat barbecue and they try it for the first time, they're hooked. (7:27)</p><p>• These high school kids go out and cook, and they can go out and feed their community and help nourish first responders.  In a big way, high school teams now in America are using this. They're feeding their campus, they're feeding administration, they're holding competitions. They're working at a local soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, they use it as a fundraiser. I think it brings more money back into their educational program and gives these kids a better learning experience, and they get to eat.   (12:16)</p><p>• Well, for my knife skills workbook, I have a butcher as the career, where they have to actually go into the Occupational Handbook and look up like how much does a butcher on average make and what is the job entail? Do they have to have any certificates or endorsement and educational background? And I thought it was just a perfect pairing with knives and a butcher and everything.   (21:03)</p><p>• Whatever your family recipe is, that's how it starts, we want kids to have positive learning experiences, we want to promote them