The Idaho Potato Commission along with the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education selected Magnet Academy of Culinary Arts at Wekiva High School’s Christopher Bates to receive the 2024 Secondary Educator of the Year award. This honor recognizes an educator’s professional commitment to the educational community and foodservice industry.

One recommendation letter described Bates’s pioneering spirit which was coupled with his relentless pursuit of excellence. These attributes served as a beacon of inspiration for colleagues, students and partners alike, according to the letter.  

A pioneering spirit perfectly describes how he created a culinary arts magnet program out of nothing eight years ago. Bates’s vision was to provide under-resourced high school students with a head start in the culinary arts field. Today, the program has earned national awards and is one of the top-ranked state programs. The program’s competition teams have won numerous state, regional and national culinary awards.

This Florida Educator of the Year recipient turned his home-kitchen into a production studio during COVID lockdowns and posted culinary resources to the program’s website. Bates has continued adding additional resources and now the website sees several thousand people visit it weekly. 

The high school teacher also established multiple community connections and networks that benefit the program and its students. For instance, the event “Tacos for Teachers” saw the Bates travel to local elementary schools to work with elementary students making tacos for their instructors. He also partnered with a local restaurant chain to fund and create an on-campus pizzeria when his students could not get transportation to off-campus jobs and externships.

Bates’s principal said that since the program began, the Bates’s students have traveled all over the country and earned a collective $1.7 million in culinary arts and hospitality scholarships.

His unwavering support, guidance and culinary commitment was highlighted in each recommendation letter.

Click here to go back to the 2024 CAFÉ award recipients list.