Julie Morihara gave up her summer vacation to open her classroom.

Local businesses banded together to donate the necessary ingredients.

A lot of aloha went into this summer's Police Activities League cooking class at Campbell High School.

PAL is best known for organizing basketball and football leagues for kids. The cooking class is a radical departure for the sports-oriented program, but one that grew out of requests from the kids themselves.

"We surveyed 300 students in the 'Ewa area and we got some astounding statistics," Lt. Frank Fujii of the PAL detail said. They realized that many ninth- and 10th-graders go home to an empty house to wait for parents to come home from work. The students said they wanted to learn to cook and they wanted to learn job skills.

PAL worked with the federally financed Weed and Seed program to put together the cooking class, now in its second summer, at Campbell High.

Eighteen students, including five who returned from last summer, took the free class. Along with all the great meals, they got a half-credit toward graduation for completing the course.

Kapi'olani Community College culinary arts instructor Chef Grant Sato volunteered to teach the students despite his famously packed work schedule.

"I considered it a stress-reliever," Sato said. "The kids are brand new to the culinary field so everything is interesting to them. They made the drive worthwhile."

Campbell food service teacher Morihara came on her own time to open her classroom three days and help supervise in the kitchen. "I learned so much from Chef Grant," Morihara said. "And I really saw the kids becoming more confident as the class went on."

This week, that confidence was put to the test as the 18 students prepared a luncheon buffet for 100 invited guests, including law enforcement officials, school staff, vendors who donated food products and their families. The students got to use the Kapi'olani Community College dining room (the one with the stunning view of Koko Head) and the KCC kitchen to prepare the meal.

"We're nervous," said junior Jennifer Alvarado.

Not to worry, the luncheon was a big success. Guests raved about the ginger chicken summer rolls, grilled marinated beef steak with Thai curry sauce and cherries jubilee.

"This is almost like a semi-formal wedding," said PAL officer Ernie Pascual, a former chef who helped teach the class both summers. "More than half of these kids never went in the kitchen before. They signed up for the class just to eat and to get the half-credit. But look at what they can do now."

Mike McDonald, a 15-year-old 10th-grader, has used his new cooking skills to make meals for his family. He made spaghetti, with sauce from scratch, and eggs Benedict.

"Culinary arts is one of the careers I'm considering," McDonald said. "I have a couple of options I'm thinking about. I'm still narrowing it down."

At the flambe station, junior Teddy Lynne Atud was making bananas foster like a pro. She was taking orders, flipping pans and smiling the whole time. Her dream is to open her own fine-dining restaurant similar to Villa Paradiso, where she works. Morihara helped her land a job at the Waikiki restaurant a month ago. Atud takes the two-hour bus ride from 'Ewa beach to Waikiki four days a week to work as a pantry cook for the dinner shift. The summer cooking course helped her hone her skills.

"She has really learned to take charge in the kitchen," Morihara said, "And that's so important in food service."

Lt. Fujii was pleased to hear that sort of testimonial. "We wanted to do something positive for these kids," he said, "To teach them how to cook, yes, but also to teach them life skills and how to be good people."