Arlington School hosts Polynesian Cooking and Culture Seminar

A group of Arlington High School and Middle School students were given an opportunity unlike anything that had been done before.

Last week, the school brought in Arlington resident Peka Tutuvanu to lead a seminar on Polynesian cooking and culture.

The seminar is the latest in a series of out-of-classroom career and technical education classes designed to broaden horizons and learn new skills.

Arlington Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher Alan Cunningham - with the help and support of superintendent Larry Johnson and the ASD staff - has people from different trades, cultures, and backgrounds to lead hands-on intensive one-week seminars.

Students who signed up ahead of time are allowed to miss the first four hours of classes to take part in these CTE seminars for one week. The work from those classes missed must be made up. CTE seminars are extra to the student day. Participants must commit to 100% on-time attendance and engagement.

Cunningham has brought in a contractor, who worked with Arlington students to build a small house – from the bottom up and everything in between. He also brought in a small engine specialist, and a plumbing and electrical instructor for high-efficiency water heaters. Last year, students got to learn about the catering business and kitchen skills from Rod McGuire, owner of Paradise Rose Chuckwagon.

And last week, Cunningham's goal of getting Tutuvanu to lead a seminar came to fruition.

Tutuvanu is from American Samoa, a small island located near Fiji in the Pacific Ocean. And while food was a constant part of the seminar, the big takeaway for students was the cultural education.

Tutuvanu taught the Arlington youth about her culture and heritage and the history of people in Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti, and Samoa.

Respect for elders – and anyone who is older – was reinforced with the students repeatedly. When speaking with students, Tutuvanu said that her culture and family were a central part of her life – and that sharing it with local kids was a dream come true.

Learning about culture through food was something that everyone embraced.

While learning to make curry, students also were taught about its significance to people in Polynesia. For all of the students, it was their first time eating curry. The dish isn't spicy like Thai or Indian curries – the taste is more delicate and is full of turmeric.

Tutuvanu traveled to Seattle to get the exact ingredients that she needed to make the meals authentic. She picked up items like taro, a staple in Polynesia, and taught kids how it is used in different dishes.

The lessons learned in the kitchen – how to properly cook rice, how to prepare dishes with tuna such as Poke, and attention to detail when making curry – were new for the students. The new skills taught in the seminar made an impact. Several kids said that they were planning to work jobs in the food industry this summer.

But the kids said that their biggest takeaway from the seminar was the cultural lessons.

"I love learning about cultures and foods," said Arlington High School sophomore Violet Baxter. "But I really loved learning about the culture," she said.

Kaitlyn Hooper, a junior, said that learning about new foods is exciting and different.

"I love cooking, and I love learning new recipes. Obviously, I wouldn't know these recipes because they're from different cultures."

Some students said that cooking was not their thing, but were drawn to the class because they wanted to learn about different cultures.

"I suck at cooking," said junior Clara Angel. "But I like learning about other cultures, so I wanted to take this class."

Inside the concessions room at Arlington High School, the students received a crash course on Polynesian cooking and cultures. A large whiteboard had words in Samoan that the kids were required to learn.

Tutuvanu also taught the students vocabulary by singing songs that mixed English and other Polynesian languages.

Wrapped in traditional clothing known as lavalava, students performed a dance and sang as faculty, parents and other students came for lunch on the final day.

Naijah Knight, a junior, said that the cultural lessons learned in the class were the highlight.

"I decided to do the class because I love learning about different cultures," Knight said, noting that Tutuvanu is "kind of like my auntie," and is close with her family.

Eight-grader Madeline Hader said that she wasn't supposed to be in the class because she is still in middle school. Arlington School Superintendent Larry Johnson invited Hader to attend, along with Brailynn Fellows, another eighth grader.

"I was really excited because I wanted to learn how to make this food and about the culture," Hader said.

The students also said that they loved coming to the session in the morning, where they made a Polynesian breakfast. They then worked the rest of the morning on their main dishes – much of which they were able to share with other students or take home to their families.

One of the lessons learned was that Polynesian people don't waste food and the importance of sharing.

Tutuvanu, moving non-stop, showed the kids videos of different places in the Pacific Islands, of cultural and political leaders, and examples of dances and customs in Samoa and other Polynesian countries.

Before the final meal, the students said that the seminar was impactful and they were thankful that Tutuvanu shared her culture with them. They also understand that most schools don't offer such opportunities.

"You need to know how to cook, you need those skills," one student said. "But also to learn about the culture and importance of the food, that's important too."

Others said that watching videos about food or other cultures isn't the same as getting the experience hands-on.

"We get to actually make the food, to taste it, and experience part of the culture," said Violet Baxter. "That's pretty cool."