Students graduate with marketable experience.
Ralph Underwood II is a chef and culinary teacher at Durant High School. He graduated from Armwood High School. His mother was a school principal who often had to work late, so “I was stuck fending for myself for food.” This sparked his interest in the food industry. He started out working for Outback Steakhouse. He transitioned to catering and up to a position as catering trainer. Since Underwood found he enjoyed working in the culinary field, he transitioned to the University of Florida, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Nutrition. From Gainesville, he moved to Bonita Springs to work as a baking chef and sous chef at the Hyatt Regency Resort.
How did Underwood transition to teaching? “It’s a funny story. In 2010, Blake High School lost its chef. My dad knew the principal, and he asked me to throw my hat in the ring. After a year of application paperwork and interviews, he was hired at Blake. Since then, he has worked for Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS). Since 2023, he has led the Durant program.
Durant has 2,400 students in grades 9-12. A whopping 600 students are in culinary classes, taking advantage of Durant’s excellent facilities. For the last couple of years, the program has ranked in the top five amongst HCPS schools. “Every year, we try to do something to improve the program,” Underwood said. To that end, he began an annual end-of-year banquet in March in which students showcase what they have learned by preparing and serving a gourmet, three-course meal for their parents and other VIPs.
“The students are engaged and willing. Their enthusiasm is high, and they want to give back to the community,” Underwood said. “If I ask for volunteers, the students show up. This is a testimony of their love for Durant and the community around us.”
The culinary program caters food for events like football games, an annual music performance assessment for 35 high schools, and the IncrediBULL Games, a Special Olympics field day event for middle school and high school students in Eastern Hillsborough County. The culinary students made 2,000 sandwiches for the 2025 Games.
“My vision for culinary is that the students get insight into the food industry, and they are exposed to jobs they might be interested in,” Underwood said. “We want them to graduate with at least the basic skills they need to start a career path. They won’t be rookies, and they can go on to do anything they want to in it. They can serve, be a line cook, a chef, a food and beverage manager, or a host. Or they can get a job while in college that pays decently, and be self-reliant. Things like entrepreneurship, personal catering on a yacht, or a cruise line chef can be lucrative.”
Instead of having no plan, and after graduation, starting off at the bottom in dead-end, low-paying jobs, these students in the culinary program can pursue a brighter future.
