From Culinary Student to Culinary Teacher: Meet LCI Alum Katelyn Easlick
South Louisiana native Katelyn Easlick has been surrounded by cooking her entire life. “I come from a family of cooks. We all love to cook. My Dad makes jambalaya, and my Grandma used to make wedding cakes. I’ve always been around it,” says Katelyn. With such a strong influence and passion, it’s no surprise that she ended up at Louisiana Culinary Institute. “I liked LCI because it was a straight shot; I could get there and focus solely on cooking,” remembers Katelyn.
The 2012 LCI alumna has nothing but fond memories of her time in culinary school. “Everything was great. Chef Chris was a great role model. She helped me out a lot, even after I graduated. I could always go to her with questions.” Although with any educational pursuit, the challenges and unexpected experiences are some of the most valuable. “Working with sugar. We had to do a sugar sculpture. Working with hot sugar, blowing it, and molding it, was challenging. It was amazing to do, and something I wouldn’t have been able to do if I didn’t go to that school,” says Katelyn.
One of Katelyn’s favorite parts of her time at LCI was the teaching style that she received from her chef instructors. “It wasn’t all lecture. There would be a lecture for a day and then you were doing hands-on activities the rest of the week to reinforce the information.” This is something that Katelyn has implemented in her role as a ProStart and baking and pastry teacher at Walker High School. “You get to see the results in real-time, and that’s something I bring to my students. We’ll do a day or two of lecture, then we’ll go and we’ll cook, and we’ll bake, and we’ll look at these reactions of what we just talked about. It’s much better than just sitting in a classroom all day looking at a book or a PowerPoint.”
After LCI, but before returning to the classroom as a teacher, Katelyn had a variety of professional roles and experiences in the Baton Rouge area. Her first job after culinary school was at L’auberge. She then moved to Baton Rouge Country Club as a pastry chef before becoming the executive pastry chef at LSU dining. For the past several years, she’s been teaching at Walker High School. “Teaching has given me more time to spend with my family. I get to show kids how to do catering events, food truck wars, and cupcake wars. We do things that get them involved and interested in the industry. Working with ProStart, I’m able to help get my students to LCI as well.”
Using the skills and experiences that she’s learned not only in culinary school, but from her family as well, Katelyn has a true passion for the culinary arts. “I get to show kids what the culinary world is, and how they can make a career out of it. It’s fun, it’s hands-on, and you can build a passion, and that’s what I did.”
