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A local chef approached the school board last week about the possibility of using a school classroom to teach cooking classes to the public for a fee if it wouldn’t go against a district policy.

Patty Oliver, owner of PK’s Culinary, told Grand Coulee Dam School District directors she would start with one-day cooking workshops on “endless topics,” including, for example, cooking pastas, sauces, sushi, appetizers and more.

“I’m just looking for a space to do it,” she said, and teacher Susan Duclos’ room at the school is the best she’s found in the community. She tried her own kitchen at PK’s but it’s not set up for teaching.

Director Ken Stanger noted Mt. Spokane High School has such a program that its own students attend and come of out of with a food handler’s license that helps them get a job. “They’re pretty excited about it,” he said, recalling the board has many times explored including more such offerings at the school.

Oliver noted she and her husband Brad grew up here and graduated from Lake Roosevelt.

“This is home to us, and we love it here,” she said. Someday, she might be interested in a program for students. She has taught a cooking class in Hawaii, and taught a six-week recreational cooking class “boot camp” while in New England several years ago.

There’s a need for such classes that “really … get people to be comfortable in their kitchens at home,” she said. “They get to learn to cook from scratch. So many people, especially my generation, don’t know how to cook anymore; they were raised on convenience foods.”

The board voted to allow her request, contingent on it meeting district policy, which would have to be checked.