(WACO) – Logan Moore, 20, of Boyd is a Culinary Arts major at Texas State Technical College and president of Texas SkillsUSA’s postsecondary division. Moore is scheduled to graduate with an associate degree in May. The Wise County resident was home-schooled.

What got you interested in Culinary Arts? “My family raised goats and we had a garden. I knew I wanted to go into culinary arts when I was in 4-H and did food and nutrition for 10 years. Both my parents like to cook. I started baking goods at the county fair when I was 8. I was going to show pigs, but they were 100 pounds overweight. I didn’t know they had a weight limit.”

Who are some of the people who inspire you? “I learned my work ethic from my dad. I can say my dad is my hero. I also look to Alton Brown on the Food Network’s “Good Eats.” I have my faith in Christ and it’s His plan for me to go into this field.”

How did you learn about TSTC? “I planned to go to college in San Antonio, but someone told me about TSTC and I started doing research. I found it was closer to home. I toured the campus in summer 2015. Chef (Mark) Schneider (statewide lead in TSTC’s Culinary Arts Division) did the tour and explained why everything is the way it was in the Culinary Arts facility. I have absolutely loved it here.”

What were some of your favorite classes? “The classes I learned the most in were American Regional Cuisine and International Cuisine. This is when we started production cooking for the first time. You go from making two servings to 20 servings. There is a lot of mathematics involved and learning quickly.”

What are your plans after graduation? “I want to try to get a job in Waco. I also want to go to McLennan Community College in Waco to study business management. Most of the chefs here recommend getting a business degree and culinary arts degree so you can know accounting and keeping books.”

Texas had more than 8,100 chefs and head cooks as of 2015, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The highest concentration of chefs and lead cooks in Texas was in The Woodlands-Houston-Sugar Land area with about 2,650 workers. The Beaumont-Port Arthur area had some of the highest salaries in the nation in 2015, according to the labor bureau.

Culinary Arts is offered at TSTC’s campuses in Abilene, Harlingen, Waco and Williamson County.