Patrick Clark with Student Chefs Jaiden Knapp (left) Zoey Koehler (right) (Courtesy Siletz Valley Schools)

Standing just over 5’5” sporting mutton chop sideburns, tattoos winding up his muscled arms, Patrick Clarke is a devotee of Julia Child’s, a veteran Army cook, fine dining chef, and currently the culinary director at Siletz Valley Schools, a public charter school in Siletz, Ore.

Leaning over a stainless-steel cooking table, Clarke displays a large, freshly gathered oyster from the morning’s field trip to an oyster farm along Yaquina Bay.

“We chose these oysters because the large size makes them perfect to barbeque. We’ll cook some here. The extra bags will go home with students.”

This spring, Oregon Small Schools Association (OSSA) awarded Clarke Educator of the Year for the impact his culinary program has had on the Siletz community, a town with a population of less than twelve hundred. Though he had decades of restaurant industry experience, Clarke began teaching two years ago after a colleague (veteran service officer) suggested he might apply for the position of culinary director in Siletz.

“I barely made it through high school,” Clarke said, expressing his surprise about the award. “When I toured the school, walking through the hallways talking to students, the kids sucked me in. The community has been so supportive. I’m stunned by how far we’ve come.”

Superintendent Ginger Redlinger applauds OSSA’s recognition of Clarke’s work.

“Our Siletz community is vibrant and diverse. Like so many rural communities, though, we struggle with food insecurity. Newport is seventeen miles away, but for many in Siletz, getting there can be a challenge. To inspire students, Patrick built a culinary program that reduces food insecurity and introduces students to opportunities within and outside Siletz.”

From his first day as the school’s first culinary director in March of 2023, Clark was determined to help both students and families eat more locally grown, healthy food while also teaching skills to expand their post-graduate opportunities.

Just months into his position, Clarke sat at his office preparing to purchase ingredients for beef stroganoff, a recipe he’d kept from his Army cooking days. Thumbing through the National School Lunch Program’s (NSLP) 6-inch ‘introduction book’ binder, he discovered the dish was a non-refundable recipe — not approved by the USDA. To get it approved could take months, if ever.

Having toured the Garden Program owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and visiting the forests and waterways near the school, Clarke realized that the region had some of the freshest, most highly prized wild foods anywhere in the nation. “Why,” he wondered, “Would we settle for a subpar program when we can feed our community fresh, healthy food?”

Meeting with Superintendent Redlinger, Clarke requested Siletz Valley School replace the National School Lunch Program with a community-centered, food-partnership approach, guaranteeing he could feed more for less, stating, “The National School Lunch Program is hurting our community. They restrict how we can resource healthy, fresh food. If a student wants a second slice of pizza, we must charge them. The charge exceeds the cost of making the pizza. When you have a hungry child, you feed them, period.”

Having watched Clarke garner respect throughout the Siletz community, Redlinger and the board immediately agreed to fund the school lunch program through the charter school’s budget.

Unburdened by restrictive regulations and mountainous paperwork, Clarke partnered with the tribe’s garden program to provide organic produce for the lunch program, facilitated field trips for students and their families to learn how to grow and cook fresh produce not available in local markets, and taught traditional ways of cooking salmon and elk.

With this community-centered school lunch program in place, Clarke launched an immersive culinary curriculum grounded in his expertise and passion for Julia Child’s cooking.

While middle school students learn the basics of baking and cooking simple dishes, advanced high school classes in the Bountiful Oregon Culinary Program develop highly prized seafood industry knowledge. Partnering with regional experts, Clarke’s field trips include deep sea fishing, clamming, crabbing and oyster seeding. They compete in national food competitions. They learn to filet fish and butcher elk. They work side-by-side with renowned chefs.

Jack Strong, co-author of The New Native American Cuisine and the internationally acclaimed executive chef of Allison Restaurant in Newberg, praises Clarke’s efforts. A Siletz tribal member, Strong reflected back on his youth.

“Like many families in the region, I grew up on USDA commodity food like commodity cheese, cans that just say ‘beef’ and ‘vegetables’ on them. My grandmother taught me how to make homemade noodles, something never taught in school. Spending time in her kitchen inspired me to be a chef.”

Strong added that (commodity) food boxes are still a large part of Siletz life.

“Not everyone has a grandmother like mine. Patrick’s culinary program helps youth learn to cook from scratch. Giving students exposure to a larger world at an age when they don’t typically get that in a small little town of a thousand people can change their life.”

In 2023, with funding from Oregon Department of Education’s charter equity grant along with contributions from The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Clarke incorporated a custom-built food trailer into the culinary curriculum.

Together with Oregon Design Co, Clarke and his students crafted a vinyl-wrap design with lush coastal imagery and the name YA-TR’EE-YAN (Feast) to reflect the wide-ranging diversity of the Siletz community. Explaining that YA-TR’EE-YAN translates into A Gathering of People around food, Clark added, “Isn’t that what a feast should be?”

Food, through Clarke’s lens, offers a place of healing, of connection, and overcoming barriers.

To emphasize his passion for cooking , Clarke stated, “My deployments with the 506th – 101st Airborne Division provided the greatest education I’ve ever had. On my second deployment I was stationed in a remote village 9,000 feet up at a forward operating base (FOB) frequently targeted by rocket attacks. We didn’t have running water. We barely had a kitchen. Many of the villagers knew me because I’d built relationships with them trading various items for fresh foods not supplied in ration boxes. When officers met with the tribal leaders, including the Taliban, I made food. Nothing fancy — maybe chicken wings along with vegetables and ranch dressing. Sitting across from each other sharing food they talked and even laughed.” After a pause, Clarke added, “I often share that experience with my students. It’s a reminder of the power of food to bring people together. It can break barriers in a way nothing else can.

Since August 2023, the YA-TR’EE-YAN (Feast) food trailer and the Siletz Culinary team have traveled from Siletz to Portland, catering public events for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians powwows, the Blue Foods Forum, and most recently the Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Struck by the speed of the program’s growth, Redlinger commented, “It’s exciting to see our students so fully engaged. Before the program and food truck arrived, some of our students felt like second class citizens, with no reason to work hard at school, or plan for their future. Traveling around the state, sharing the food they’ve made, our advanced culinary students have gained a well-earned sense of purpose and accomplishment. Regardless of their future choice, culinary business or some other enterprise, our students are learning leadership and communication skills that will serve them in whatever they choose. And … the food they make is delicious!”

When asked about his ultimate goal for students, Clarke responded, “I want my students to see the wealth of the world around them. I want them to feel pride in whatever they create, regardless of whether it’s food or something else. I want them to know there is a world of opportunity that awaits them. Whether I’m working with sixth graders just learning to cook, foraging with my high school students to learn how to harvest fiddlehead ferns, or bringing our FEAST food truck to community events, my only real job is to teach students to learn how to eat healthy, and that offering food as a gift can change lives. If I can do that, I will have accomplished what I set out to do.”