Gulf Shores City Schools has a new outdoor kitchen that its middle and elementary schools will use in elective courses that work to prepare students for high school culinary programs.

"You know, the Oyster House will sometimes have a three-hour wait. This has been like a three-year wait," Gulf Shores Board of Education President Kevin Corcoran said, "and we're so excited to have the ribbon cutting today for the beautiful outdoor kitchen."

According to a Gulf Coast Media article from 2021, the outdoor kitchen project has been in the works since 2018 when the elementary principal at the time, Rachael McDaniel, suggested it's incorporation.

Shelby Jurkiewicz, former parent-teacher organization (PTO) president for the elementary school, spoke at the Feb. 14 ribbon cutting and detailed the work it took to get it ready, as the high school already has an outdoor kitchen.

She said by 2021, enough funds had been raised by Gulf Shores Middle School (GSMS) and Gulf Shores Elementary School's (GSES) PTOs when a $25,000 check was presented to the board for the project, which Jurkiewicz said was presented as "a testament to the collective efforts of all involved."

"While the PTO was focusing on saving, we also took the opportunity to revamp our fundraising efforts," Jurkiewicz said. "One of the biggest changes was replacing the traditional pancake dinner, an event that we had had for over 25 years, with the harvest fest. This new event quickly gained momentum, and by the time many of us transitioned to the middle school PTO, it was raising over $8,000 annually."

Jurkiewicz said before the PTO's "tenure at the elementary school," the bank account had grown by the thousands as it went from $400 when she first joined to $40,000 when the left.

Superintendent Matt Akin said the elementary and middle school teachers have already received training on the equipment and tools in the outdoor kitchen.

Akin said the ribbon cutting was "exciting" as the outdoor kitchen will provide "hands-on learning experiences" to the students.

"This space, as you know, is more than just a kitchen," Akin said. "It's a place where our students will connect learning to real-world skills through culinary exploration, farm-to-table experiences; they deepen their understanding of nutrition, sustainability and the science behind the food we eat."

In addition to culinary lessons, students will also learn how math and science can be used in cooking creating an interactive learning environment.

Tim Webb, GSMS principal, and Alicia Early, GSES principal, were both in attendance. Webb spoke on how the new kitchen will impact the "alignment" of GSMS curriculums to the Gulf Shores High School opportunities.

"What we believe at our middle school fundamentally is that project-based learning, problem-based learning and place-based science are the things that lead to engagement of students," Webb said. "That engagement of students then leads to a love of learning and motivation."

Webb said the love of learning and motivation to learn then lead to the "96% attendance" at GSMS, "which is unheard of." He felt like the engagement also led to the "very, very low numbers of discipline" issues.

"We believe that this resource is critical to that being possible," Webb said on the engagement the outdoor kitchen would encourage.

Everyone who spoke at the ribbon cutting voiced thanks to the students, teachers, parents and administrators who helped to make "this vision a reality," as Akin said.

"It means the world to us," Webb said. "The community engagement, the family engagement and collaboration. It takes a village, and I tell you what, this is truly a village that believes in raising kids."