A gift of a trip to Anguilla, as a guest at Cuisinart Resort and Spa, from Emmy award television chef celebrity, Rachel Ray, filled recipient Philadelphia culinary arts teacher, Wilma Stephenson, with much excitement last week.

Wilma Stephenson

It all started when Rachel Ray was believed to have seen a documentary called “Pressure Cooker” done by a CBS film crew on Stephenson’s highly-motivated class at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is also a cheer leader. The next thing was that, at a specially-organised function at the school’s gym, Rachel Ray surprising came up on a TV screen. “She was saying hi to us and was mentioning my class and myself,” Stephenson recalled. “She said we are going to give you a kitchen for your classroom…I was so shocked. In about three or four days they ripped out the floors and ceilings and redid the lights and everything.”

The refurbished kitchen and dining room were spectacles of much beauty with various new equipment and furniture. Then, when Stephenson returned to the classroom the next week, in her own words, “there was Rachel Ray coming down the hall, running and hugging me…and we just started talking about food and everything.

“She said let’s look at the dining area (which can seat 80 people). It was just so unbelievable; and then we went into the kitchen and it was just extraordinary. I was still in shock at seeing her.”

Another surprise was when Ray walked over to ten of Stephenson’s leading students and gave each of them $5,000 for school purposes. As if that was not enough, Ray arranged for renowned chef and restaurant-owner, Bobby Fray, to cook a special meal for the students. “Everybody said that when I saw him I ran and they told me, ‘come on back,' she related. “He went over and did demonstration cooking with my students and then he had them do it.”

Stephenson continued her story: “Rachel Ray must have been in my school for about six hours and then everything kept happening. About a week later…we went up to her one hour cooking show. That was such a fun day and they treated us like kings and queens. She gave me $5,000 for my classroom, a year supply of eggs… and at the end of the show she said we are sending you to Anguilla and you can take a friend with you because she knew that my husband had died last year. He would have been here, believe me, and so I brought my girlfriend. That’s how it [the visit] came about. I believe she gave me the trip because of the nice wok I do with the students.”

The culinary teacher, known for her toughness with students, stated that she did not know what people liked about her teaching techniques which were repeatedly filmed and widely shown across the United States. “I guess I am a perfectionist. When it comes to my students, I want them to do what I want, and that’s it,” she declared. “They don’t have a choice...People say my rules are strict. I don’t believe they are. Life is strict and you have a choice. In my class, you either do right, or you are not in. I feel that students need structure and that they love the tough structure.”

Among other subject areas, she teaches nutrition, basic French, Indian and Asian culinary skills, front of the house activities, sanitation and safe-serving. She prepares her students either for the job market or college. “I am most impressed with my students by the fact that they don’t give up. They just keep on going," she said.

Stephenson, a teacher for 42 years, said she would be delighted if there could be an exchange visit between culinary students in Anguilla and her school, where se has 125 - 150 students between 16 - 18 years. “It would be like a dream come true. It would be once a life-time experience for my students and I believe both can learn from each other,” she stated.

About her visit to Anguilla, she said: “I have never visited this island. Just the experience of coming here off the boat, the ambience and the environment, it is so good; and the people are so wonderful... As soon as I stepped off the boat, I felt a total change. It is unbelievable.”

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