LAKE ELSINORE -- As teacher Todd Naylor whipped up an impromptu apple pie recently, students behind him fanned out in the kitchen-classroom -- heating pasta in a saute pan, wiping down counters and washing dishes.

As Naylor presses dough in a square glass pan, he calls to students to set out five plates.

"What time's lunch?" Naylor said. "What time's our customers coming?"

He's referring to the meals served to Lakeside High School teachers who opt to buy their lunches from the culinary students. As the lunch hour nears, they set out plates emblazoned with the Lancer logo, fold napkins and set out glasses and silverware.

They dish out pasta and shepherd's pie, careful not to break the mashed potato top, and serve them to the handful of teachers dining that day.

This is no ordinary class. Students in Lakeside's culinary program in essence operate their own restaurant and catering company. They cook in a professional-quality kitchen, dish out breakfast and lunch to school employees several times a week, and cater functions throughout the community.

"Every time we walk out of there, I feel so accomplished," said senior Renae Camp, 17. "It's a nice feeling."

Camp is one of a handful of students who have been a part of the culinary program since it started when Lakeside opened in 2005.

Naylor is in his 14th year of teaching and brings to the job years of experience working in and managing restaurants. His grandfather founded the Tiny Naylor's chain several decades ago.

Lakeside's culinary program includes introductory-level classes where students start out learning the basics of food safety and knife skills, as well as more advanced courses.

Several times a week, culinary students sell breakfast and lunch to Lakeside employees. They also cater a variety of events, from sports banquets at the school to small meals of chicken with pumpkin and habanero mole sauce for two or three distinguished guests.

In addition to learning how to make a variety of food, students also are trained in the restaurant business. Except for Naylor's salary, the program is essentially self-supporting, with proceeds from catering events paying for the supplies.

"These kids don't make anything that doesn't get sold," Naylor said.

Naylor wouldn't have it any other way.

If students didn't have to worry about supplies, he said, they wouldn't think twice about dropping potatoes on the kitchen floor. They also calculate menu prices more carefully knowing the revenue goes toward things such as sending students to the National Restaurant Association conference in Chicago.

"When you say your trip to Chicago is based on whether you can formulate your math, kids are asking me to check their math," Naylor said.

Some students have warmed more to the business aspects of the class than the culinary ones. Camp said she's not planning on a career in the restaurant business, but she likes billing teachers monthly for meals they have eaten in the culinary classroom.

She said she's considering a career that would draw on similar skills, perhaps in hotel management.

Students also learn the finer points of service and etiquette. Naylor instructs them on how to properly dish out the entree and side dishes and tells students to place the plates with the logos facing the customers.

When Camp came to the program, she thought a dirty chef's coat meant the chef was working harder. But Naylor requires students to keep their clothes pristine.

"Now I know the chef's coat is supposed to be, like, white," Camp said.

Of course, some students come out of the program set on a career in the industry. Senior Josie Sostre, 17, said cooking came naturally to her, noting that her mother was the type of person to try to make three meals out of one chicken.

Through the class, Sostre interned at the restaurant at The Diamond stadium and, with another student, became a personal chef for a diabetic couple.

"I get more experience outside of Naylor's classroom on a higher level," Sostre said.

The culinary students are hired to cook and serve food at a variety of events, from buffets to sit-down dinners. At their first event, several students nicked themselves with knives, as did Naylor. But they say they have grown increasingly skilled at the events.

"Naylor definitely knows his stuff," Camp said, "but I love that he puts us in there and lets us do our stuff. He lets us learn from our mistakes."

For his part, Naylor said he couldn't ask to work with a better group of students. Among the events that the culinary students handle is the annual Lake Elsinore mayor's prayer breakfast.

Naylor said he makes sure to recognize the students who have come in on their days off during spring break and spent long hours preparing for the event. That helps provide officials with a different view of Lakeside students, Naylor said, given that the school unfairly suffers from a bad reputation.

"I think it's really important, especially with some of the bad press the school has got," he said.