Replacing Jormeka Wilkins, the Foods and Nutrition teacher who joined Chapel Hill’s faculty last year, Clarence Dillard brings over 15 years of professional experience to his position.
While new to the school, Dillard boasts three years of teaching experience and considerable experience in professional kitchens, having worked for Duke Dining in Durham and FLIK Hospitality Group in the Research Triangle Park.
“I taught college culinary classes at the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham,” Dillard said. “Cooking seems to make everyone happy!”
Dillard teaches two Foods and Nutrition I classes and three Foods and Nutrition II classes. He begins his classes his each day by writing a letter of the alphabet on the whiteboard and asking students to name foods that start with the letter.
In a recent class, the letter of the day was J, and a student said Jello.
“I think they’re seeing how much there is to learn about food,” Dillard said.
Dillard also has his students critique their peers’ culinary creations in class.
“We do feedback journals on what we cook and what the other students cook,” senior Mallorie Torres, who is in Dillard’s Foods and Nutrition II class, said. Torres said she most enjoyed making “homemade pickles” this year in Dillard’s class.
Dillard, unlike most other teachers, likes to be called by the title he earned by completing his culinary training and working in restaurants: “Chef Dillard.”
He hopes to inspire students’ love and knowledge of food beyond just the classroom.
“We’re starting up a food club that will meet a couple times a month after school,” he said. The school’s Cooking Club will host its first meeting on October 8.
Junior Alexia Scott is excited to serve as president of the Cooking Club and has taken Foods and Nutrition for two years, though she recognizes that not all students have room in their schedules to take the class.
“A lot of people want to take [Foods and Nutrition class], but there’s such a narrow window,” she said. The club will give students an opportunity to learn about culinary arts and food preparation, as well as “express themselves and relieve stress.”
The club will meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays and Thursdays of each month after school.
“If you love food, come hungry!” Dillard said.
