Alan Mendoza was taking an applied science class Monday afternoon at East Union High.

His lab partner Savina Molina was honing her math skills.

And by the time they were through with their project for the day they will have learned a thing or two about cooking and nutrition.

Mendoza and Molina are students in Savannah Wegner’s culinary arts class.

And if you think it’s a fancy repackaging of old-school home economics classes from the 1960s you’ll be in for a bit of a surprise as are many students on their first day of class.

Family and consumer science in the Manteca Unified School District are not classes you can slack off in and get an easy “A”. There are rigid academic standards that involve science, math, reading and English skills to the point the units students earn are accepted as qualifications toward entrance requirements for the University of California system.

“They are also learning communication, time management, organization, and the importance of following directions,” noted Wegner who is in her fourth year teaching in the family and consumer science department.

There are two primary paths in the district’s family and consumer science offerings. One is to teach various life skills students will need as adults. The other is starting the path toward a career in various fields such as culinary arts and fashion.

Students are motivated by a number of reasons to take the class with the most common thread being a desire to learn how to cook and take care of themselves as adults when they start college or start off on their own. While some of the teens have cooked prior to taking Wegner’s class, many have never cooked. Wegner noted others have never even washed dishes.

The class is split about 50-50 between actually preparing food and book work, lectures, and academic-related work.

Wegner said students learn best by their mistakes and being put in positions where they are teamed with others who they often did not know before starting the class.

“Sometimes they are placed on a team with others they don’t particularly like but to succeed they have to learn teamwork and communication,” Wegner said.

They also have to learn the importance of reading instructions and to understand them and execute them.

“Sometimes the best way you can learn is from your mistakes,” Wegner noted.

She recalled one student who was working on a recipe and wasn’t paying close attention. The recipe called for two tablespoons of butter but she used two sticks instead setting up disastrous results.

Wegner, who is a 2004 East Union High graduate, did not take culinary arts in high school, but her husband Rueben did.

It was after high school when she delved into how the home economics movement a century ago led to practices we take for granted today and the establishment of agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture that she became hooked on a field that is sometimes relegated to second-class status in a number of school districts.

Wegner noted Manteca Unified has a much more robust family and consumer science program than many other districts. Offerings at MUSD  high schools include food and nutrition science, interior design, life management, adult living, culinary arts, childhood development as well as fashion and design. There are also career education programs in similar subjects.

Wegner’s class — culinary arts which is also offered at Weston Ranch, Sierra, and Lathrop high schools — is designed for those interested in understanding the principles of food and nutrition and in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The study and application of food preparation, planning, service, nutrition and storage is addressed in the course. Students use equipment, supplies, products, and procedures in an interdisciplinary approach. Safety and sanitation is paramount and applied in a classroom laboratory setting. Students develop laboratory writing and reading skills through accurate planning, recordkeeping, measuring, and use of culinary techniques.

They also learn something else from Wegner — dining etiquette.

At one point the class plans and sits down to a formal dinner with everything from table setting to manners addressed. It includes learning not to eat with your mouth open and to put away the cellphones.

Wegner said some students view the exercise as being “stuffy” but she drives home the point that they are times in life when you are interacting with people — at work, perhaps a job interview, or a date among other events — that you need to make a favorable impression.

The “stuffy” aspect as well as the need to develop soft skills of working with others plus the fact it is not a slacker class thanks to  rigid academic standards hasn’t deterred students from taking culinary arts. The waiting list for Wegner’s class is twice the size of available spaces.

Districtwide there are 13 instructors teaching family and consumer science programs.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com