Students in the hospitality class at Centre Wellington District High School (CWDHS) are normally focused on culinary skills in the kitchen, but with the shift to online learning they’ve had to switch gears.

They’ve created an online portal that lists and supports all the restaurants in Centre Wellington.

Christopher Jess, chef instructor for the hospitality and tourism class at CWDHS, said the website Our Kitchens: A Guide has the hours of operations for all the restaurants listed, as well as how they can be reached to order food during the pandemic.

“As a teacher of course, [I] want to relay additional ideas about community, and engagement, and how this is an important moment, and how this industry needs help, and we could all do well to support that,” Jess said.

Jess said that’s why there is a review page on the website because it encourages people to send a positive review to the restaurants. And if they have a negative one, it encourages them to directly contact the restaurants so they have a chance to rectify any mistakes.

He said prior to the pandemic, people would go to a restaurant because they didn’t want to cook at home.

“Or because you wanted to see friends, and you wanted to have a different experience, but now that we’re all at home, there’s a new level of interest in how we can still support that industry without going out like we have in the past,” Jess said.

Jess explained what he wants his class to take away from this project.

“That this industry [hospitality] is vulnerable at this moment, and […] just by ordering a burger from a different restaurant and leaving a review, that they can actually have a positive impact on their own local economy,” Jess said.

He said that even before the pandemic, at least two thirds of his students would be working in some kind of hospitality job at some point in their life.

He adds that his class has received a lot of positive feedback from the community, with some comments regarding that people didn’t even realize what all Centre Wellington has to offer in terms of local restaurants.

Christopher Jess, chef instructor for the hospitality and tourism class at CWDHS: