Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Kimono Fort Memorial wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I'm your host Sally appear. And we're going to start the show off the same way we start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you are spending with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro
Speaker 0 00:00:28 Okay. And we're back. As you can see, we are not on the set of the Mac city morning show. We are at holy Trinity high school and junior high. Um, one thing that hasn't changed is how I introduce my guests though. I don't cause they can do a better job at that than myself. So on that note, can you please tell everybody at home who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 2 00:00:46 Sure. Uh, my name is Brooke Macmillan and my pronouns are she her? And I'm the culinary arts teacher here at holy Trinity. I teach grades seven to 12. Usually this year I teach just grade 10 to 12. So I'm just in the high school. Um, but I've been here for the past nine years teaching the foods program.
Speaker 0 00:01:06 So you have a nice little costume on right now. Um, we're getting close to Halloween. So for the people at home, I don't want you to tell them who you are or what you are, but I think it's a great costume. Thank you. Very cool. So how did you come up with this concept?
Speaker 2 00:01:22 Usually I try to make something food related for my costume, whether that's like a famous chef or a food pun or something involving food or an ingredient. And then theme the day around that, of what we're making in class or, you know, just for, for a little laugh.
Speaker 0 00:01:41 No, that's awesome. I like it a lot. So when it comes to food, how did you get involved with this? How did this become something you wanted to pursue?
Speaker 2 00:01:50 Well, I grew up in a really big food family, so I learned cooking from a really young age and it was always something that I learned was a way to bring people together. So when I went to university and I knew I was going to become a teacher, I found out that I could actually become a foods teacher here in Alberta to the CTS courses. So that's what I specialized in. Yeah. And my ed degree. And then cool. Yeah, there was an opening here when I graduated. So I've been teaching foods ever since. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty, it's a pretty awesome like stream and program. And so for me, I knew I didn't want to go into the food industry as a chef and go to culinary school. That just, wasn't my passion for food being on that side of things. I love teaching and the community aspect and sharing food with others. So teaching for me was more of like the natural fit. So yeah.
Speaker 0 00:02:47 Yeah. There's all different types of positions you can have when it comes to food. Have you ever worked in a restaurant or a kitchen of any sort?
Speaker 2 00:02:54 No, I've done catering, but I've never worked in like a restaurant per se. So it's always been more like teaching, cooking classes at like community centers or, you know, for special events or for private events doing some catering, doing some like cake decorating and baking and things like that on the side. But yeah, I never really wanted to pursue the path of working in restaurants. Um, I, I had many friends and I went to school with many people in the industry, but for me it was always more of the teaching aspect. That was that I was drawn to.
Speaker 0 00:03:31 I'm going to go a little bit bougie on you here. So for the people at home, it's my show and I apologize ahead of time, but let's say hypothetically, I'm looking for somebody to cook my meals for me. I like a personal chef all the time. That's like live in, let's say from like week to week, I'm like, Hey, listen, here's a grocery list. This is roughly what I like to eat. Can you prepare this for me? Like, is that something that takes place in Northern Alberta? Can you find that? Have you heard of that?
Speaker 2 00:03:59 I feel like there is definitely people that do that. They're usually at, at least here anyway, it's a lot of word of mouth. Right. But yeah, there's definitely private chefs, people that do kind of like Neal services like that or meal prep kind of services and yeah.
Speaker 0 00:04:16 Is that likely prepare your meals for you, but I'm thinking more like when you come home a warm cooked meal,
Speaker 2 00:04:22 You know, I know what you mean to have
Speaker 0 00:04:24 Somebody come in and like, it's like, I, I, I've done a little bit of research in it cause I know a few individuals who've asked the question. I know I would love to have that from time to time though. And that's the hard component is like making it a gainful employment for somebody. Cause like, if you're just like, yeah, I just need this for like a few weeks. Cause it was a tough week. You don't need like, you're not going to make your living off that. Yeah. When you're in school, this is interesting. I know I have friends who've gone through culinary school, but when you do it through university, what does that look like? Cause you're obviously not going to like Nate or Sage or yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:55 Yeah, yeah, no. So it's, it's kind of unique to certain schools in Alberta. I believe like to my understanding it's a program that I did at the university of Alberta. So I was part of like a CTS career and technology studies is what it's called. So it's kind of, all of the tradespeople are in a program together. And so I was in school with a lot of people who had been in the culinary industry for many, many years and now wanted to become teachers and teach culinary programs in high school. So I got to learn alongside a lot of people who were working as professional chefs or who had their red seal. So they were tradespeople. So I kind of got to learn a lot from them in that sense. But then also we were all learning the teaching skills and all of what goes into being a teacher.
Speaker 2 00:05:48 We're learning that side of it all together. So the U of a, has a really interesting program to bring in those trades, people that do want to go on to education and become educators in high schools that have trades programs. And that's something we're really familiar with in Fort McMurray. But a lot of our focus is sometimes like industrial trades because we have the oil sands. So that's just what we're used to seeing when you think of trades or trades people. But it is really, you know, eye opening to a lot of students and even just everyday people to think of, oh, well actually culinary arts is a trade. Pastry is a trade. Hairstyling is a trade, right? So it's also building in that component into our schools as well that there is so many trade opportunities for students to pursue as a career, but also it's life skills too at the end of the day and job skills. So
Speaker 0 00:06:38 Yeah, no, uh, you and Tanner were talking a little bit before the show got started. It sounds like you're from Fort McMurray.
Speaker 2 00:06:43 Yeah. I was born and raised here.
Speaker 0 00:06:45 Okay. So you, me and tan are all the same. Okay. So my question to you is what high school did you go to? You didn't go to Trinity now. Didn't
Speaker 2 00:06:53 Exist. I went to composite high school.
Speaker 0 00:06:56 Oh. You're like 10 or look at Shannon and get in a big thumbs up over there. Okay. So you're a calm kid. So I should be very nervous about you then should be leery. You're tougher than me.
Speaker 2 00:07:06 Okay. Got my downtown routes.
Speaker 0 00:07:08 Okay. What was your experience like growing up here in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:07:11 Um, I loved growing up here. I had a great experience, um, growing up here and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know a lot of people grow up and they can't wait to get out. And you know, I did, I left once university for five years and then I found myself back here and I, yeah, I just feel really fortunate because I got a lot of opportunities growing up here that a lot of my friends that I met when I left never had so, and, and it was so different to back then. It was still like, it still feels like a small town vibe here, but it was so much more so back then, like everybody knew each other. It was really a small community, a really tight-knit community. So
Speaker 0 00:07:55 Yeah. So my question for you next on the same point is, uh, like myself. I went away for school and then I knew even when I left, I was coming back here. Uh, what's kept you in the community. He obviously one way come back and continue to stay. So what about Fort McMurray really kind of gets you going
Speaker 2 00:08:12 Well, it is still my home and my family. A lot of my family is still here. Some have moved away, but I still have family and, and like friends that are family, extended family that live here and my school family, like I love my job. I'm really, really passionate about what I do. I, I feel so much purpose in it and I love my students and that is obviously a huge reason to stay because I see the potential of like the program that I'm building and the relationships that I have here and then to see my students graduate and then become part of the community and see what they end up doing is, is again, another really unique part of living in a smaller city is you get to see all these people and interact with them a lot more than if you were in a really big center where people can spread out a lot more. So, yeah. I always just liked that feeling of Fort McMurray being still that close-knit community and, and you know, everyone
Speaker 0 00:09:12 That's right. That's exactly right. So if I was in your, a foods class, I took foods in high school many, many years ago. Uh, just one semester, what would I be learning as far as like my introductory skills? Like when I took foods, I learned how to bake. Like it wasn't real world things that I learned how to bake. I was like, Hey, a three-level cake. That's not really conducive to me surviving. So like hopefully hoping your course is a little bit different to that.
Speaker 2 00:09:39 Yeah. And I mean, every, every food teacher has to kind of work with what they have. Some people come into it with very little background and just kind of have to make it work or very little budget and equipment. So every foods program you walk into is going to be totally different depending on who's running that room, what their skill sets are and what resources they have. So I'm again, so fortunate here to have an amazing new kitchens and the resources that I have. But yeah, I really like to focus on the life skills. So learning knife skills, learning, obviously the safety and sanitation aspect of it. But knife skills is a big one. Learning how to read recipes, how to measure like all the basics. And then we cook. We cook almost every single day. Yeah. So I, I really think the best way to learn is to just keep cooking and cook as many different varieties of recipes and foods as you can, because really with any hands-on skill, the more practice you have, the better you're going to be. And cooking is no different, right. We don't learn how to cook by just watching a video or reading a cookbook. We actually have to do it and make a bunch of mistakes. And then that's how we learn. Like, okay, I'm going to tweak that next time or I'm going to do this differently. Or, you know, you just learn those little like shortcuts for timing too, that help you along the way. So I'm a big believer in learning by doing so. And that's why I teach what I teach. So,
Speaker 0 00:11:10 So now with your kids, is there any way to support them? I know like a trainee, there's always things going on. They'd be like, like for the artists who can come and you can view their arts for, if you're in a play or something, you can come see them here. Is there any kind of programs or kind of events that you guys have that can really promote the food's component of what takes?
Speaker 2 00:11:28 Yeah. So we try to integrate ourselves whenever we have an event going on at the school and do some catering. So I like to give the students opportunity to, if they are interested in getting involved in the food industry, getting work experience, or seeing what it would be like to do that as a career and build those job skills. So we try to do catering for like our dance shows or theater shows last year or two years ago, we did a dinner theater and my classes catered the whole dinner theater. We've done like banquets before we've done cafes within the school where teachers could place an order and then the class would make it like their coffee or, you know, muffin or bagel and then deliver it. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I like to try to build in a service aspect of it too. So then they get that, that experience as well as just the home cooking skills. They can also get the service side of things and what it's like to have a customer and what it's like to make a nice presentation and, and, you know, have that pressure environment as well as someone's waiting on us to get food out. So
Speaker 0 00:12:34 Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Now being a local to Fort McMurray, only somebody from Fort McMurray can answer this question when it comes to pizza in Fort McMurray, where's your go to jams.
Speaker 2 00:12:45 Ah, okay. Well, I really liked me homemade pizza, but I like an Italian style pizza, like the Italian thin crest. Um, so I would say like Famoso, or I like the Earl's wood-fired pizza too. Cause that's like my personal pizza preference. Um, but yeah, I, I dunno. I feel like there's growing up. It was always Joe mamas. So with Jonah's downtown Joe,
Speaker 0 00:13:15 Don't tell Jonah's person. I
Speaker 2 00:13:17 Mean, beacon hill dramas for like the OJI growing up, my grandparents lived in beacon hill, so we definitely got beacon hill, but yeah, downtown Joe,
Speaker 0 00:13:26 Love it. Love it. Hey, listen, we have a lot of people who talk about Jonah's I'm personally a person. I love thick wood, but I lived in beacon hill for a number of years in my, uh, my twenties and solely at beacon hill gentleman's is phenomenal as well. Yeah. So, okay. So Joel was, but the thin cross is where you're going to. Yeah, but so you kind of mentioned this, you would prefer your own pizza at home. What is your favorite thing to cook?
Speaker 2 00:13:51 Um, I love making bread, so I would say homemade. Good. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:13:55 I love bread. What kind of we talking white bread. We talk multi-grain what kind of bread are you?
Speaker 2 00:14:00 My favorite sourdough. Yeah. I also love rye, but yeah, any, just any homemade bread. I mean, you can't go wrong.
Speaker 0 00:14:10 Yeah. Well, listen, uh, myself and I know Tanner likes bread too. A quid pro quo here. You're on the show. Feel free to bake us some bread. Okay. Okay, sweet. Okay. Now we're at the end of the show or I think we are, I think that's about the time. So thank you very much for coming. Totally appreciate it now. But before I cut you loose, everybody gets a shameless shout out or plug. So please, uh, the camera's on you. The lights are on, you have fun. Oh my
Speaker 2 00:14:32 Goodness. Plug for
Speaker 0 00:14:34 Anything you want for a shout out.
Speaker 2 00:14:36 Um, okay. I would like to shout out all of my GSA students here at holy Trinity. I'm one of the teacher advisors of the GSA and uh, yeah, every week we get to meet and every week they inspire me and they are my other reason to come to school every day and to do what I do. So shout out to GSA.
Speaker 0 00:14:57 So for people like myself who don't know what that acronym means, what's GSA
Speaker 2 00:15:02 At GSA is the gay straight Alliance or gender and sexuality Alliance. So it's a student group in the high schools and elementary schools for any two S LGBTQ plus students to gather together, find community support each other learn.
Speaker 0 00:15:20 Well, the show just got extended because I have some more questions about this. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. So when you're in a program like this, what transpires, like it's great that they like, from what you've explained, like there's a place where they can come and they can chat and they have a community that's phenomenal, but like obviously with most clubs or activities, there has to be some form of structure. So what does that look like when they get there?
Speaker 2 00:15:44 So a lot of the structure of it is student led based on kind of what they see in their own school and what kind of impact they want the club to have. So some of the GSA groups over the years have been more about advocacy and education, like doing different campaigns in the school to raise awareness or like reaching out to staff, reaching out to students, advocating for certain issues. Um, and especially in terms of to S LGBTQ plus inclusivity in the school. Um, other times it's more of like mental health support or social support. So we, you know, have circles and we talk about what's going on in everyone's lives. And, you know, they have peer support right there where they get a chance to be heard and be seen and then have people either just support them with empathy or give advice or, you know, work through challenging things that are going on that maybe the larger school community would have no idea about, or wouldn't ever be able to emphasize because they're not having that lived experience of being a marginalized individual. So yeah, it's just a way to build a sense of community and also give students that might not be safe to be out everywhere in their lives to have a safe space, to come to where they can just be themselves without, you know, any kind of fear or any kind of judgment or reservation. It's just a time for them to yeah. To be in their school and feel safe and feel loved.
Speaker 0 00:17:13 That's awesome. So if you had a, a youth that wanted to get involved in that, how do they go about doing that?
Speaker 2 00:17:19 So we meet once a week for the whole school year, uh, on Wednesdays after school. And we meet in my room, the food serum. So we always have snacks and yeah, so we meet throughout the whole entire school year. And pretty much every school, every high school definitely has a GSA in Fort McMurray. And I think most of our elementary schools also have them or are in the process of starting them up as well. So usually there's a teacher two or three that are kind of the advisors that help support the, and yeah, anyone's welcome to join throughout the entire year. And allies are welcome as well to come and show their support, whether it's teachers or students, if, if they're an ally, then they're also welcome.
Speaker 0 00:18:02 Yeah. Really cool. Nice. Well thank you for coming on the show. Yeah. It's been a lot of fun. If you ever want to come on the show to promote anything else you're doing, you can come to the set. Um, but yeah. Thanks for being here. Thanks for Trinny for allowing us to come. Everybody at home for McMurray wood, Buffalo, the rest of the world. Thank you for tuning in. Once again, it really does mean the world to me. I hope you're having a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace
Speaker 3 00:18:26 Y daily, all Wade, and another morning show later by us.
Speaker 1 00:18:35 You
Speaker 4 00:18:44 Talk about quenching your ugly.
