A HANDS-ON TASTE OF FUTURE COURSES

Amari Mare

@amari.mare

 

Roots Academy, located in Potchefstroom, hosted their Open Day on Saturday, 10 May. The excitement in the air was contagious – with the Roots Academy students appearing more thrilled than the visiting matric students. Students and parents were welcomed with warm coffee and rusks to fight off the early morning cold and tiredness.

 

The Roots Academy staff wore bright red sneakers. They explained that it was a symbol of the difficult journey ahead and that every student should stay true to their purpose. The academy’s staff were very committed to each and every student in order to help them and lead them to become the best versions of themselves. It is their belief that students should benefit from active participation through communication, collaboration and being able to adapt to diverse communities – especially later in life when they are faced with diverse job opportunities. The academy gives students the necessary tools to excel and to be able to step into their own red sneakers and make their dreams come true. 

 

Roots Academy offers hostel facilities and shuttle services to accommodate their students. The offered specialities taught by the lecturers surprisingly match their enthusiastic personalities. The lecturers take the time to teach extra skills that are not provided in the curriculum such as flower arrangement, food photography, event organising, and candle making. 

The Open Day consisted of activities that reflected each speciality that the matrics  could take part in as teams. The first activity consisted of separating eggs, which linked to the Culinary course. The second activity linked with Pâtisserie, where the teams had to beat the eggs with sugar until it formed stiff peaks, after that the teams raced to the next activity. Hospitality was the next activity, where the teams had to race against each other with a tray balanced on one hand. 

 

Each team made their way to separate rooms where each speciality was taught. The Roots Academy had an exceptionally clean campus, which showed their dedication and professionalism. In the Pâtisserie class, the students were taught how to decorate their own brownies.

 

The chefs’ kitchen provided students with various workspaces, each with their own station that included a stove and the necessary appliances that they might need. In this class, they learned how to make a pesto for pasta as their snack on the road to the next classroom. In the Hospitality class, they could express their creativity as a team by setting a table. Their last stop before ending the day was at the mocktail stand where they could experiment by making their very own mocktails.

 

Roots Academy is an exceptional institution that deeply cares for their students and does everything in their power to supply their students with necessary tools to enter the workspace so they can be better people.

 

The Roots Academy setup for welcoming prospective students and their parents (Source: Amari Mare)

 

Edited by Mignon Walters and Mhlengi Khumalo.