Culinary students rush around the kitchen as they prepare the treats for the 20th annual Bulldog Bakery, being held on October 25. The Bulldog Bakery is a fundraiser that not only helps the kitchen continue to run into the future, but also pays for their final exam.

The students have been preparing for this event since the very beginning of this school year.

“The new first-year students were studying food safety and sanitation, and while they were studying that with me the second-year students were working independently,” instructor chef Richard Winemiller said. “One of the projects they were working on was selecting the items for the bakery and then writing the recipes that we’re working on this week.”

For Winemiller, the Bulldog Bakery also served as practice for students hoping to go into the culinary field.

“It’s a great chance for my students to work in large quantities because that’s how they will work in a professional kitchen,” Winemiller said. “It’s a very good way to help them develop time management skills because they have to [make] a lot of products in a very limited amount of time.”

One of these students hoping to go into culinary would be senior Macy Fastenau, whose experience with the class has helped her grow more accustomed to working with others.

“I’m a leader to [the other students] and I need to set an example, so I’m going to get along with every person in that room whether I like them or not,” Fastenau said. “They’re my teammates, and we all have the same goal, and we have to work together to accomplish it.”

Even for those not planning to go into the culinary field, the skills students acquire from the experience will help them no matter what career they end up pursuing.

“Planning on everything I do, since I came to the culinary class, I’ve learned, ‘Oh wow, this is actually benefiting me and my schoolwork,’” Barerra said. “Writing things down I need to do, making schedules and plans of what I have to do, cooking skills as well, I’m gonna use those for the rest of my life.”