Students at Sandia High School started their own cheese club to give others a chance to broaden their horizons.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When you think of cheese tastings, you might expect a class with wine pairings and chatting about flavor profiles. Well, that’s nothing compared to what some local high school students are doing, except the wine part, of course.
Students at Sandia High School started their own cheese club. A regular cheese club typically costs quite a bit of money and is usually for adults, but the high school’s cheese club gives students the chance to broaden their horizons through new food and learn new things.
“I joined cheese club because I love cheese,” said Sandia High School junior Shayla Jagodzinski. “I thought it was a really unique opportunity to try some new things, make some friends.”
“I really want to try, like, lots of cheeses, and try, like, different varieties,” Sandia High School junior Sean Jagodzinski said.
Unless you are lactose intolerant, what’s not to love?
“It’s art club as at the same time, so you’re, like, doing all of this. So you just feel, very like, I don’t know, I feel like I’m in New York,” said Sandia High School sophomore Margaret Leon.
Some Sandia High School students were so passionate about cheese, they started their own club for it.
“Miss Joy, like, I was in her art club, and one day, she was like, ‘I’m making a cheese club.’ I’m like, that’s so cool. I love cheese,” Leon said.
“I thought that it was just gonna be, a small thing with a couple of people. But, then 30 people showed up,” said Sean.
They’re ready for the hard work, or as some may call it: snacking on a variety of cheeses.
“My favorite cheese, I’d have to say the cheddar,” Sean said.
“The Meredith goat cheese, the last one we did,” Sandia High School junior River Hussey continued. “I liked it’s flavor.”
“Definitely the second cheddar we tried. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was my favorite by far,” said Shayla.
Tuesday’s Cheese Club meeting went up a level, with a visit from the New Mexico Cheese Guild.
“We heard that they actually had a cheese club, and I have not heard of a high school yet that has a cheese club,” said New Mexico Cheese Guild President Lissa Knudsen.
Lissa Knudsen and David Myers taught the students some of the science that goes into cheese making.
“If we plant seeds that can germinate later on, if there’s interest or time to foster that, you know, a love of cheese, then we’re happy for that,” David Myers said.
The kids walked away with more than full stomach.
“I liked learning about how the cheeses like fermented and how the microbials worked together to like ferment the cheese,” Shayla.
“I didn’t realize, like, there was that many types of cheese,” said Hussey. “Broaden your palette.”
