A’merie Bequer

“My purpose and my class besides teaching them how to cook is getting ready for industry,” said Lidia Felix, new culinary arts teacher.

With the many new staff joining the Bulldog family, West Covina High School introduced Lidia Felix as the new culinary teacher.

Felix’s dream to pursue a culinary career dates back to when she was very young, helping her mom cook and even cooking herself. She then decided to become a chef.

Felix has been teaching culinary for three years with this year being her first at WCHS. Before her teaching days, she was a chef for 10 years at a 5-star hotel. However, due to the COVID pandemic, her kitchen was closed down.

“My kitchen was closed for too long so I thought about needing to do something else. Then I decided to work on my teaching credential, so that’s why I became a culinary instructor.”

In her class, she currently lectures on different techniques and safety measures such as ways to safely use knives and keeping the kitchen clean at all times. Despite classroom and equipment limitations due to renovations currently taking place, Felix has strived to make her class fun and engaging for students while they wait.

“What I try to do is a lot of projects and hands-on activities that don’t require cooking. I separate my students in groups and they do, for example, familiarize kitchen tools,” she said.

Felix’s purpose in her classroom besides learning how to cook is getting ready for industry. As her students are preparing to get jobs, or already have one, there are many opportunities in the food industry according to her.

As soon as the cooking facility is finished, Felix plans to have her lessons more hands-on, as well as emphasizing the importance of sanitation and safety.