On a Tuesday afternoon in January, about 20 students in fifth through eighth grade at Chicago Jesuit Academy, 5058 W. Jackson Blvd., crowded around Chef Sebastian White at a table in the cafeteria for their weekly culinary lesson.

They listened and answered White’s questions about the names of different ingredients he held up and the proper way to prepare them. Then they took turns slicing vegetables they would later use in a recipe.

Chicago Jesuit Academy operates on an extended day schedule and co-curricular activities are offered twice a week. Students can choose activities such as a sports team, a club or a music group. Options change every quarter. The culinary arts class has been one of the school’s most popular since it began during the 2018-2019 school year.

That could be, in part, because students eat whatever they prepare, said Haley Fischer, staff member and a past moderator of the class.

“I think students love coming down to the cafeteria and really being able to, of course, get a little extra snack, but also being able to learn how to prepare a meal,” Fischer said. “I think it’s also teaching them some nice independent skills in terms of cooking.”

The class also sneaks in some math, such as how to divide ingredient portions in a recipe based upon how much of an item they have.

Students meet on Mondays and Wednesdays for the class, with White leading the class on Mondays and one of the three class moderators leading it on Wednesdays.

Recipes are different each time, in part so students can learn to use various kitchen tools and learn new skills, such as how to properly crack an egg.

They begin each trimester with easy recipes and build up in difficulty. Much of the class is about learning to work together, said Melissa Svec, a social worker at the school and a class moderator.

The students work as teams and recipes are broken down into steps, with each student taking a turn.

“They have to negotiate amongst themselves who’s going to do what step. That takes a lot of camaraderie and team work to divvy that up,” she said. “I’m a social worker, so that is music to my ears hearing them resolve conflicts and work on that organically with cooking.”

While the class started out as something fun for students, it has evolved into helping them learn more about healthy eating and where food comes from, Svec said. Students also do recipe building.

School staff has seen the class affect students’ home life in some cases. Svec recalled a student who learned to cook an omelet in class, and now makes one for his mother every morning.

“I think a lot of family time is spent around the kitchen table, and we get to model a healthy kitchen table with this class, where they get to collaborate, have fun, and enjoy what they made because they get to eat it at the end of the class,” Svec said.

There is another reason for the class’s popularity.

“Kids inherently want to jump in and get their hands dirty and this is the perfect class for that,” Svec said. “There’s a lot of play with cooking.”

Many students take the culinary co-curricular more than once. Among them is Jamal, an eighth grader who first took the class in sixth grade.

“It’s really fun and intriguing and is a great way to open yourself to new experiences,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in food. I have a soft spot in my heart for food.”

This is the first year in the class for Zuri, a sixth grader.

“It’s interesting for me and it’s teaching me new stuff,” she said, mentioning making pancakes from scratch as an example.

“It’s been fun learning and taking turns with my group and doing group activities,” Zuri said. “I really wanted to cook and stuff just like my grandma.”

Brice, a fifth grader, was interested in cooking before signing up for the culinary class and said he has enjoyed learning new things.

“I want to improve my cooking skills like cutting and stirring,” he said. “I’ve been cooking at home for a few years. I cook normally breakfast. Sometimes lunch. I made a lasagna once.”

He wants to continue to improve his cooking skills.

“It’s going to help me by cooking for other people in my family and stuff — my mom, my grandma, my grandpa, cousins, everybody,” he said. “[Cooking] brings me joy. It calms me down and it makes me happy when I try new stuff.”