With a pinch of excitement, a dash of hard work, and a spoonful of cooperation, Lauren Reganato has the recipe to teach the perfect class!

Reganato grew up in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York and attended Baldwin High School. Reganato then attended New York Institute of Technology for a degree in culinary arts, hospitality management, and interdisciplinary studies. Then, she went to Queens College for a degree in education. In college, Reganato was involved in set design during her freshman year. Similar to Sports Night here at LHS, Queens College had a girls’ sports night, which Reganato participated in her freshman and senior year. During her time at college, Reganato chose to commute every day from her home rather than stay at Queens College.

For Reganato, teaching was always a big part of her life. “I taught after school art classes called The Art Studio of Rockville Centre when I was in high school and I did that until I was almost 25 even while I was still going to culinary school. I always loved teaching and after I finished culinary school, I realized I really missed teaching, so I went back,” she explains. During this time, Home Economics began to be called Family Consumer Science. Reganato says, “So, when I went to school it was called Home Economics and I didn’t know it changed to Family Consumer Science, so I actually kind of had a hard time finding out how to be a Family Consumer Science teacher” This was not too much of an obstacle because Reganato soon became the Family Consumer Science teacher she is today. In fact, Reganato has been teaching for a total of nine years. She spent one year at Levittown High School and has been at LHS for eight years, teaching Family Consumer Science the entire time.

Today, Reganato is a family consumer science teacher and teaches Food and Nutrition, Gourmet Foods, Science of Foods, and Career Development. Rachel Valentino, alumni of Class of 17’, says, “Food and Nutrition helps me learn how to cook and you become friends with everyone in that class. I will always remember the memories I made there.”

Reganato enjoys teaching juniors and seniors in particular because they are mature, responsible, and are “capable of a lot at that level.” However, she wishes that all grades could enroll in her class and intermingle with one another. “When I taught at Levittown, they had 9 through 12 together; I liked that because it was a really nice way for all the grades to get to know each other,” she says. While students cannot enroll in any of Reganato’s classes until junior year, they could always join LHS’s Culinary Arts Club, which is now affiliated with the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). Reganato is the club’s advisor and helps sponsor, organize, and cook for many events, such as the Night of the Pumpkins, Cupcake Wars, bake sales, and much more. Valentino was the president of the club and also helped plan these events, which always gave their proceeds to charitable organizations like No Kid Hungry. “I like how Culinary Club gives back with everything it does, with bake sales and stuff,” she adds. Remi Santoro, another alumni of Class of 17’ and member of the club throughout his high school career, states, “What I like about Culinary Club is that we get to make different types of food and different types of styles with a loving and friendly teacher.” As Remi suggests, Reganato treats all of her students with respect and kindness.

Reganato also teaches at Queens College. “I teach a Science of Foods course there. I started teaching there after I graduated,” she explains. Through teaching this class at the college, Reganato was able to introduce it to the high school curriculum last year. “It’s the same exact course. Actually, it’s even more in-depth here at the high school level because it is a full year and only a half year at Queens College. We actually just received college credit for it here at LHS, so students who take it this year can get college credit, which is great because it is an entry level science.” Indeed, this class is very beneficial for both one’s high school and college careers and future. At Queens college, Reganato’s students are learning become dieticians, physical therapists, or involved in sports nutrition. Some have even decided to become Family Consumer Science teachers like Reganato.

Reganato loves her job, especially teaching teenagers! Even more than cooking at a restaurant, Reganato enjoys showing people that they could create things themselves. Reganato explains, “My favorite thing about teaching, especially in cooking, is that when the students create something of their own and they’re really proud of it. That moment when they realize that they didn’t think they could do something and it was too challenging. Then, they overcome that and create something really wonderful that is their own. They didn’t copy a recipe, they didn’t copy a skill, they created something original.” However, there are things that Reganato does not like about teaching, such as issues with time management. In particular, she does not enjoy that she has to rush her lesson and get the ingredients prepared, the food made and eaten, and clean up in the course of forty minutes. “There’s not enough time in the day. The forty minutes goes by too quick. It’s a little constraining,” says Reganato, “I love when I do the Adult Education classes. We have four hours. Or when I do college classes, it’s from 4:45 to 9:45. We have more time.”

This should come as no surprise, but Reganato loves to cook and bake at home, too! Reganato states, “I’m really lucky that what I teach is also my hobby, so I actually do a lot of cooking and things along that line at home too.” Of course, her family comes first and will always be number one in her heart. Of the things she is most proud of in life, Reganato says she is proud of her son, Miles, who is three years old.
Lauren Reganato is a great asset to LHS due to her dedication, love, and respect for her students and coworkers. Reganato is one who has a great passion for her job and hobbies and expresses it through her work. As Valentino says, “She’s nice, fun, and creates a relationship with every student.”

Bernard Pivot Survey
• What is your favorite word? Emulsify
• What is your least favorite word? Fear
• What turns you off? Bad attitude
• What is your favorite curse word substitute? Fudge
• What sound do you love? Birds. I play nature sounds on Alexi app all the time
• What sound do you hate? Traffic
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I think one day maybe I’d like to be a small business owner. Perhaps a cooking school so I would continue doing the same thing but on a bigger scale when I retire one day. Or a food truck.
• What profession would you not like to do? Law enforcement. It’s too dangerous
• If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say at the pearly gates? Everybody’s waiting for you

Favorites
• Movie: Ratatouille
• Book: The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
• TV show: New Girl
• Food: Macaroni and cheese
• Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
• Actress: Mary Tyler Moore
• Song: “Stand by Me” by Ben E King
• Sports team: I don’t like sports
• Band/musician: Paul Simon
• Pastime/hobby: Gardening and cooking
• Snack: Cucumbers and ranch or clementine
• Play: Mary Poppins
• Color: Green