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Inside The Kitchen in the Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center

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“We’ll do a seared salmon with a pineapple salsa, we’ll do a salmon cake and a coconut shrimp,” said Trevor Bethke, the chef instructor at The 13th Street Café.

Some pretty elevated dishes make their way to the dining room at the Cadillac restaurant.

“You got it, you’re getting a feel for it, keep pulling,” said Trevor, as he instructed a student.

Trevor teaches along with Chanhom Sikkema.

“Mrs. Sikkema and I have over 50 years combined in the kitchen,” he described.

But these students are the ones cutting, breading and cooking.

Selena Quintero is a junior at Marion High School.

“Learning and having fun at the same time is the best way to learn, honestly, it just keeps you going,” she said.

Every day starts the same for the 18 Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center students.

“When you come in, you go to the board, you look at it, we have hot prep, cold prep,” she said.

But the days never end the same.

“Every day it’s something new, and I enjoy that, I like switching it up,” Selena said.

This is the fish unit.

“We have had sauce units, knife skills units, breakfast units, soup units, we do fresh salads and vinaigrette dressings, I mean we do the full gamete,” said Trevor.

It’s a part of the Hospitality, Retailing and Entrepreneurship class.

“They’re getting a little bit of math, they’re getting a little bit of table service, they’re getting all the pieces of the puzzle to be successful in any hospitality venture they choose,” said Trevor.

Even sharpening their skills at home.

“A couple weeks ago, I made bacon potato soup for my family and that was so good, and after you do it at home, you just remember it too,” said Selena.

That’s another goal.

Trevor hopes the H.R.E. class teaches students how to not rely on recipes.

“Want them to know how things work, so when they leave here I want them to be able to make bread from scratch,” he said.

Once all the food is prepped and the clock strikes 11:00, lunch is served to the CTC staff and the public.

Leaving customers feeling full and leaving students with well-rounded lessons in and out of the kitchen.

“I am not expecting them to necessarily be chefs but if they could take a little bit of the good things they learned here and share that with the world. I am happy.” said Trevor.

“CTC is definitely one of the best parts of my day,” said Selena.

The 13th Street Cafe serves the public Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11 to 1.

The Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center suggests you call ahead of time before stopping in.

That’s just to double check they are serving that day.

For more information about the class, click .

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