MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Robert Cooper, a senior in Pulaski County High School's culinary arts program, reads a recipe for gravy for a three-course Thanksgiving meal during class. Cooper is one of six students statewide chosen to work in the kitchen of on-air Food Network talent Guy Fieri.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Robert Cooper (center) prepares a sausage and sage stuffing in his Pulaski County High School culinary class. Cooper — who is traveling to Norfolk today to work with Food Network star Guy Fieri — is working to earn internship credit through the class's two semiweekly restaurants.

| Anna L. Mallory

anna.mallory@roanoke.com, 381-8627

DUBLIN -- A Pulaski County High School student is traveling to Norfolk today to take part in a Food Network event there.

Robert Cooper, a senior in the high school's culinary arts program, is one of six students statewide chosen to work in the kitchen of on-air talent Guy Fieri. He'll spend more than eight hours behind the scenes building on the lessons he's picked up in class.

Fieri, who hosts three programs on the network, is embarking on a 22-city tour over the next 30 days. Norfolk is the fourth stop. He wanted to use students involved in Virginia's ProStart program, a national culinary curriculum created by the National Restaurant Association.

Fieri recently worked at a competition for students in California's program, said Rebecca Reamer, Virginia's ProStart Coordinator. He sits on the board of directors for the Education Foundation of California's branch of the restaurant association.

Cooper will dice, chop and prepare food -- or the "mise en place," a French term for a cook's ingredients -- for the show. He's unlikely to be in front of the audience, but he said he is still excited.

"It's a great opportunity," he said Wednesday after preparing a batch of stuffing for his class's in-house restaurant. "This is a big name."

He said he's looking forward to finding out the level needed to perform with professionals.

And, he admits, he's nervous.

"I'm confident in my skills, but at the same time, what if I don't do well?" he said.

Cooper has been working in the high school's culinary arts program since he was a freshman. This year, he's working to earn internship credit through the class's two semiweekly restaurants. Students in culinary classes plan menus, purchase and prepare food that students, staff and parents can then purchase.

The restaurants are a money-maker for the program and real-life experience for students, said instructor Reno Palombit.

The school has had three different culinary instructors during Cooper's time with the program time, which he said was discouraging. But he said Palombit, who's now in his second year, re-energized him and his desire to make cooking a career.

Once he graduates the ProStart program, he should have a national certificate that could help him land a job.

For now, Cooper works at Wendy's, but he's in the process of applying to Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts in Charlotte, N.C.

Cooper's mother, the late Margaret Cooper, once owned a restaurant in Pulaski. He said that's part of where his passion for food began.

Mostly, he said, "I like seeing the faces of the people, that instant gratification where you make something and it pleases people."

That desire came through in the application he filled out to work at the Food Network event. Cooper was among 57 applicants from 12 schools.

It's unclear if the program will actually be aired on the network, Reamer said.

Pulaski County Public Schools is paying for most of Cooper's overnight trip.