Philly Culinary Arts Teacher aka 'Drill Sergeant'

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MICHEL MARTIN, host:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. It is a story with everything: fear, anger, drama, love, fierce ambition, and it all takes place behind the doors of Room 325 at Frankford High School in northeast Philadelphia.

That's the home of the culinary arts program, run with an iron fist for the last decade by teacher Wilma Stephenson. She, along with several of her students in the class during the 2006-2007 school year, is the focus of the new documentary "Pressure Cooker," which opens in New York next week.

Suffice to say, it is not your mom's home ec class. Wilma Stephenson is with us now, along with one of her graduates, Fatoumata Dembele. Ladies, thank you both so much for joining us.

Ms. FATOUMATA DEMBELE: Thank you.

Ms. WILMA STEPHENSON (Teacher, Frankford High School): It's nice to be with you.

MARTIN: Ms. Stephenson, let me just give a little taste of what's in store for your students. Here it is. Here's a short clip.

(Soundbite of movie, "Pressure Cooker")

Ms. STEPHENSON: Now it might behoove you to take a little bit of - she should have used more - did you pour this (unintelligible)? I didn't do all of it? Don't you ever slam my door. Do you understand?

Unidentified Man: I let it go, and it…

Ms. STEPHENSON: No, no, no, no. You should have opened it again or said you were sorry. But I'm sick of you. Try it again.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: What's going on, Ms. Stephenson?

Ms. STEPHENSON: Ah, that's me. Wow, you know. Oh, what's going on?

MARTIN: Actually, one of my favorite lines in the film is at the beginning of the film, at the beginning of the school year, when you say I know you all have heard about me, and everything you've heard about me is true.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. STEPHENSON: And it is true, only worse. (unintelligible)

MARTIN: Why are you so mean? Why are you so tough?

Ms. STEPHENSON: Oh, I am. That's just my way. And to me, I don't seem to mean. It's just what I do. But the students, they keep coming back. So they must like it in some way, shape or form. But I expect all of my students to come up and reach the sky and go as far and further than they could even imagine.

MARTIN: Fatoumata, your story on many levels exemplifies that journey. As I understand it, you were born in the Ivory Coast. Your father's from Mali. Your momma's from Burkina Faso. And you came to the U.S. at 14 from Mali. You didn't speak any English, and somehow or another, found your way into Ms. Stephenson's class. Why did you take her class, and what did you hope to get from it?

Ms. DEMBELE: I took her class because we had to take an elective, and it was just a normal class that I had to take. And after I took the class, I didn't know much about culinary arts. I usually cook at home, but usually I didn't think I (unintelligible) learn how to cook. And taking her class actually helped me develop a lot because when I came to school, I learned the basic things that some of the student didn't get that.

MARTIN: Ms. Stephenson, did you ever make any of these kids cry?

Ms. STEPHENSON: All of them have cried. Many of them have tried to quit, but I won't let them quit. I will not let them quit. I used to holler at Fatoumata. I still do at times, don't I, Fatoumata?

Ms. DEMBELE: Yeah.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: What did you holler at her about?

Ms. STEPHENSON: All kinds of things.

Ms. DEMBELE: I can name things.

Ms. STEPHENSON: It can be anything. It really can. It just comes out. I mean, she may not have done something the way she should have done it. I mean, throw it out. Start over again.

MARTIN: And you definitely are in the tough love school. I think everyone would agree to that. But it's very clear in the film that you really do love your students. I don't think it's exaggerating to say that.

Ms. STEPHENSON: I do. I love them with all of my heart. And all the screaming and the hollering that I do and the throwing out the food and the demanding that they do perfect work, but I do love them dearly. They're music to my ears. They really are.

MARTIN: You seem to be very interested in the lives of your students. In fact, I want to play another clip. It's from where you and - Fatoumata, I'm not sure what you're doing here. Maybe you're working on applications or her essays or something. But here you - it's the two of you together. I'm just going to play a short of clip of where Fatoumata is telling you about her life back home.

(Soundbite of movie, "Pressure Cooker")

Ms. STEPHENSON: You had to walk like 10 or 12 miles a day.

Ms. DEMBELE: Because we had to go school twice. You go in the morning, and then you stay until 12 and then come back home, take a shower, eat, then go back to school and then come back.

Ms. STEPHENSON: So you were walking like 20 miles a day to go to school?

MARTIN: And some of the other students that you are seen interacting with also have some challenges in their lives. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Ms. STEPHENSON: Boy, I could write a book. They could write a book, and we do have some stories - students that are put out of their home. I had one young man who is now a chef at a top restaurant in Atlanta. In 10th grade, his mother literally threw him out of their home, pushed him down some concrete steps. And every day I would ask this young man, where are you living today? Where are you living today? When he got to be a senior, we needed a address for the financial aid, and we didn't have one so we had to ask one of the CTE teacher if we could use their address. And that's how we did it. And times when the students are working full-time, trying to make ends meet, and their home lives are not anything to write home about.

Their parents, a lot of them, have no idea what these children are going through or what or their accomplishments. I had one student who was number one in the class, and her mother did not know that she was, never hugged her. And what I love about these kids, you know, some of them, their parents are walking the streets on crack, dealing drugs right in front of them. These students, and these are typical students. They're not letting their parents or their guardians be an excuse for them to do other things that are not - that are negative. They're using what their parents are doing to sort of motivate them.

MARTIN: Given how tough some of these have it, I mean, some of these kids have tremendous responsibility at very young ages. They're essentially - some of these kids are essentially raising their siblings.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Yes. Yes.

MARTIN: Some of these kids are essentially the heads of households.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Yes.

MARTIN: Do you ever - are you ever tempted to cut them some slack knowing that they have such difficult times at home?

Ms. STEPHENSON: No. No.

MARTIN: Never?

Ms. STEPHENSON:No. I never do. I underline never. Bold face, italicize it and capitalize it. No, that's the real life. We have to just keep on going. I have had them come crying, Ms. Stephenson I cannot do this. One young lady who has a full scholarship at one of your international colleges, she's a sophomore today, and I remember her catching me, Ms. Stephenson I can't do it. It was a week before the competition, and I cannot do this. I'm working so much and I'm so tired and I have to give it up. And I just touched her and said you can not give this up. She said I need to pay, you know, my school senior dues. I said okay, well, that's paid. And so I paid it. I paid it for this child to get a scholarship for her to win, because she had the skills, and I knew once she could get something she would just soar and just go forward.

MARTIN: And Fatoumata, what about you? Did you ever want to quit?

Ms. DEMBELE: Oh no. Absolutely never. No. Although, she was tough.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. DEMBELE: But no, she always taught us that never - it doesn't matter what it is. Whatever you put your mind to, you can do it and stick to what we started.

MARTIN: Much of this documentary revolves around preparations for an annual competition that is a kind of a culmination of a careers through culinary arts program. Why is this competition so important?

Ms. STEPHENSON: Because this is their chance. This is my student's opportunity to have their future, a new future, change their lives. This gives them a chance to just be able to leave the environment that they're in that they may want to leave, and this is their everything. This is just a once in a lifetime opportunity to just soar.

MARTIN: If you're just joining us, you're listening to TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm speaking with Wilma Stephenson and Fatoumata Dembele. They are featured in a new documentary "Pressure Cooker." It follows the lives of a group of culinary students at Frankford High School in Philadelphia. Wilma Stephenson is their teacher.

Fatoumata, what do you think you were attracted to? Because as you mentioned, you cooked at home all the time.

Ms. DEMBELE: Right I cook…

MARTIN: Maybe too much, some might say.

Ms. DEMBELE: Yes.

MARTIN: You had a lot of responsibility.

Ms. DEMBELE: I was looking for something different, and she gave that. She gave me a strength. She gave me a hope, because when I took that class, I didn't think I was even going to get into the competition. I just thought it was a regular class. and she mentioned the competition where the juniors and the seniors they compete against each other, and I said let me just give it a try. That's how I got into the competition.

MARTIN: And just to reiterate for people, this competition can result in thousands of dollars, indeed, tens of thousands of dollars of scholarship money for students to attend college. And Ms. Stephenson, does this money have to be - does the students have to study culinary arts in college to be awarded these scholarships?

Ms. STEPHENSON: No, necessarily culinary arts within itself, but under the umbrella. And a lot of them go into hospitality management, business management, hotel management, travel and tourism. I have students in every aspect of this area. That's great.

Mm-hmm. And Fatoumata, I have to mention, you - I don't want to give it all away. It's kind of unfair, isn't it, for me to give a little bit of it away? But I think it's fair to let people know that Fatoumata did succeed in the competition. She is in college now. And, if I understand it, you're in college, but you're also working as a assistant desert chef in a restaurant?

Ms. DEMBELE: Well, yeah. I work in the desert and (unintelligible), which is a closed station salad and food service.

MARTIN: And how is it?

Ms. DEMBELE: It's actually great. I'm learning a lot. My major was not in pastries, so going at the Ringo(ph) and working there had gave me so much about the industry.

MARTIN: And did you feel well prepared?

Ms. DEMBELE: Well, I was prepared enough because I was in an internship with Marcus Samuelson at Aquavit. He had sent me over at Ringo to work there.

MARTIN: Oh excuse me, Marcus Samuelson, one of the hottest names in the food world. Excuse me. Just name dropping here. Thanks, Fatoumata. Just letting us know she's in high cotton.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: Ms. Stephenson, the competition is grueling, but nobody pushes himself or herself harder than you do. Do you ever sleep? I mean, the cameras follow you from early in the morning, it seems like it's dark when you start.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Yes.

MARTIN: And it seems like it's dark when you finish.

Ms. STEPHENSON: I don't really know. But I do sleep. I sleep. I just, there's so many things. Just before I came on to speak with you, I was sitting here figuring out when we're going to clean the kitchen or when we're going to break the kitchen down.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: Okay.

Ms. STEPHENSON: And who's going to do what? But I really do love it. Sometime I really don't like to tell the teachers how much I love it because some of them look at me like, oh, you've got to be crazy. But I really do love it.

MARTIN: You know, Ms. Stephenson, there's a debate now in education circles, and I'm sure you know about it. It's over whether this kind of practical education is in the best interests of students. Some people say, well, you know, stuff like culinary arts or, you know, woodwork and carpentry, electrical, stuff like that which some kids crave, other people say well it takes away from English and math and history and other instruction. Some people consider what used to be called vocational education as a trap for poor and minority kids. It steers them into a certain kind of work. And other people say, well, look, kids should be able to have an opportunity to do something that they love and might really fire their imaginations. What do you say about that?

Ms. STEPHENSON: I say that we need more of it. We need more of this in the schools. I believe that my students particularly are getting more science and math and sometimes English more than they are in their regular science classes. They aren't aware that they're doing the percentages, the baker's percentage, and they're unaware that they're doing the fractions and they're unaware of the chemistry between the baking soda and why it's reacting and why this is happening and why the yeast is rising and why the carbon dioxide. They're unaware of it, but they are getting this.

I think that the students in carpentry, they have to know measurement. They have to know math and science. And if you would look on the Food Channel okay, many of our chefs, one very, very, big, big name, I remember reading about him. He had a full scholarship to Boston Conservatory of Music. He went one semester. This was not what he wanted. He had to be in culinary arts, and now he is big time.

I mean, huge, massive, many restaurants, on television, has his own show, on "Good Morning America" many times. I mean, all kinds of different things. So I think we need to understand that this is giving the students not only something that they like, but, I mean, the hospitality field is the second largest employer in the world, so it must be something that they're offering the students. And I believe that we need more of it. I believe that the counselors and the administration and the people that are making these judgment calls need to come in and really talk with the teachers, which we are never talked to. No one ever ask how we feel about things, and we are with the students.

I mean, these are not students that have low grades. I mean, Fatoumata was sixth in her class. I have a student this year that has a 3.79. This is all come under this vocational, if that's what you want to call it.

MARTIN: Fatoumata, what is your dream? What do you hope to do in the future?

Ms. DEMBELE: I hope one day, my whole vision, my dream someday hopefully will be to open a restaurant in Somali that offers different cuisine. Because a lot of the food that I receive here, like burgers and French Fries, those food are not available to many young people back home. And I think opening a restaurant like that, it would make a great big difference back home.

MARTIN: What are you going to call it?

Ms. DEMBELE: I haven't thought about that yet, but…

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: Wilma.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Oh, that would be great.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. DEMBELE: Oh, that would be a good one. That's good.

MARTIN: And Ms. Stephenson, what's next for you? What do you - what's in store for you? I don't know that you could work any harder. So…

Ms. STEPHENSON: Oh I don't know. Each year when I want to say, well, this is my time to leave. I have students, please don't leave, just one more year, just one more year. And so right now, I'm looking forward to my students for next year because the ones I just, I had eight students that just received well over $372,000 worth of scholarship money. As a matter of fact, altogether they won $672,000 in scholarship money. So, you know, I've - where am I going? I'm going to continue to do what I'm doing, trying to help my students. And I'm going to do cheerleading one more year, and that's it for that one.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: You're the cheerleading coach, too?

Ms. STEPHENSON: Yeah, I am. We are. We're the public league champions for eight years in a row now. But I work them to death, also.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: Okay.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Oh, man.

MARTIN: Wilma Stephenson joined us from NPR member station WHYY in Philadelphia. Fatoumata Dembele, one of her former students, joined us from our New York bureau. They are both featured in the documentary "Pressure Cooker," which opens in New York on May 27th. There's a broader national release following that. For details about when and where it will be playing during the rest of the summer, please turn to the TELL ME MORE page at npr.org.

Ladies, thank you so much for joining us, and good luck to you both.

Ms. STEPHENSON: Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

Ms. DEMBELE: Thank you.

MARTIN: Remember, at TELL ME MORE, the conversation never ends. And now we'd like to hear more from you. Do you think practical education such as culinary arts or carpentry are valuable for students? Or do these kinds of courses distract students from core education in math and English? Is this kind of practical education which - some folks call vocational education - an opportunity or a trap, especially for kids from more disadvantage backgrounds?

To tell us more about what you think, please call our comment line at 202-842-3522. Again, that's 202-842-3522, or you can share your personal story on our blog. Just go to npr.org, click on the TELL ME MORE page, and blog it out.

And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow.

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