Right when you walk into Chef Gordillo’s classroom, you are instantly hit with chaos everywhere, all the students are busy at their stations doing different tasks and all you hear is Chef Gordillo yelling across the classroom giving orders.
This is Chef Gordillo’s second year at HP, since then he’s become the advisor to the Cooking Club and is going to be the upcoming coach for tennis. Since his first year he began to cover numerous events from school celebrations to community events, along with teaching his classes. Recently Chef Gordillo participated in the Multilingual Fair where he had to prepare 10 different dishes and 250 of each dish for each culture being represented. Last school year he also participated in the Art Walk down Pacific Blvd, where he served tacos and agua frescas to around a thousand people. Chef Gordillo tries to incorporate events into his classroom so the second year students of Culinary Management could experience the management side of the class.
Although things can get difficult with managing multiple tasks at once, he’s “grateful to have the support of his students to delegate and execute tasks”.
Katherine Rivera, a junior and student of Chef Gordillo claims that “before this class I was a very anti-social person but being in it brought out the leader in me.”
She says the class can be stressful at times with everything going on, but in the end it’s worth it.
Similar to us, Chef Gordillo attended school at LAUSD at Manual Arts. During his time there, he won an individual scholarship worth 165k and a full ride to the Culinary Institute of America in New York where he studied for 2 years earning his associates in baking and pastry arts. He also received a second scholarship to attend Drexel University in Philadelphia where he earned his Bachelors in Hospitality Management with a Minor in Business Administration. He received his diplomas right when covid hit and he claimed that getting a job wasn’t easy, so instead he enlisted into the Army’s National Guard for the next two years. Before education, Chef Gordillo worked at places like Coachella and Disney.
During his time here, he has given students the very same scholarship opportunity to those interested in going into the Culinary Arts program. He helps the students prepare, memorize and learn to manage their time. Although Chef Gordillo’s plate keeps filling up, he enjoys opening up different opportunities for those at HP.
There’s a saying by Nipsey Hussle that states “The games gonna test you, never fold stay ten toes down. It’s not what’s on you, it’s what’s in you, and what’s in you they can never take away from you.”
Chef Gordillo lives by it and it reminds him to stand his ground for what he’s earned.
Written by Suhey Aguilar, Staff Writer