Culinary chef and teacher at Northlands Parkway Collegiate in Winkler, Paul Henderson, is excited about incorporating creative ideas into the culinary program. 

Henderson received his chef training in Toronto. He moved on to gain experience in a five-star resort, and after extra training he acquired a red seal as a baker and chef before moving into teaching.

“I needed a new challenge, so, I went into teaching, and yeah, this is the sweet spot. I love working with these teenagers. They're hilarious. They're so much fun”, shares Henderson. 

With the goal of better training for his students than they could acquire in the industry, Henderson has implemented new and creative programs at NPC.

“We do meat cutting here. We roast whole pigs. We have a big roaster that the welding department in Morden put together for us. [It’s a] beautiful thing. So, a few times a year we'll do an entire pig roast, and the students have a good time with that.” 

Hog roast at NPC.Culinary students at NPC serve a whole hog that they prepared.

One of the things that the students seem to enjoy most is an Iron Chef competition, inspired by the Food Network.  

"This group is really taking advantage of the Iron Chef competitions that we do. They're hyped up. We have a common table, so they know ahead of time what all the ingredients are going to be. They each have a station. They don't know what their protein is. There are no recipes. You can't look at your phone. You can't text. The whole idea is using your creativity.” 

Henderson says the Iron Chef competition idea came from the students, and they are enjoying this new way of learning. The students have joked that they want the atmosphere to be more like a Gordon Ramsey environment.  

“They wanted it to be more dramatic. Like, ‘yell at us, Chef’. I'm like, ‘I'm not yelling at you guys.’ They are so funny and so cute.” 

Henderson believes the balance of fun, creativity, and hard work will benefit the students long term. 

“I think overall the students coming out of this program are always better. They are better communicators, better with people, and have more confidence. They learn the kinds of skills that they're going to need when they're out doing whatever they end up doing in the world”. 

Click below to hear the interview with Connie Bailey.