A new cookbook celebrating this country’s 250th anniversary is in the works, guided by popular local cooking teacher Michelle Willams. Michelle was introduced in this newspaper in 2022 to feature her class in the new culinary section of Family and Consumer Science (once called Home Economics) at Thomas Hunter Middle School. This class was so popular and successful that a waiting list soon developed. Five years later there is a waiting list. It’s a popular elective. When the eighth grade was moved to Mathews High School, Michelle moved with it. Now the seventh graders are brought in by bus for its classes. This is a very active class with a very active leader who believes “to teach people to know how to feed other people is important. I love my job.” In addition to its food studies, the class raises money by selling cookies and cakes to support extra activities. Six class members entered the 2026 May Faire cake contest. “Three made and baked their cake at home while the other three made...