Bill Gates Met This Amazing Guy Who Teaches Math Skills To Kids Through Cooking Lessons

Robert Hand is a teacher at Washington State's Mount Vernon High School. He's also been named 2019's Teacher of the Year, a title that landed him a surprise bonus.

He got to tutor technology icon Bill Gates in one of his classes, learning how to cook.

Images courtesy Gates Notes

Gates posted about the encounter in his blog. Apparently Hand has some of the most popular courses at the school, including 'Beginning Foods'. One reason might be that students get to eat what they cook in class. But more important might be that it's just one way Hand is trying to prepare kids for adult life.

You see, the high school in question has 60 percent of its kids come from low-income families. Hands lessons are so attractive because they're more practical in nature rather than learning mathematical differentials. He folds science and math lessons into everyday lessons that upskill the kids to better deal with later life.

The cooking class for instance teaches kids how to eat healthy on a budget. But he also has other classes on job skills lie prepping for interviews, and even doing your taxes and balancing your budget.

Which is why Gates wanted to highlight the classes and how they benefit the community. So for his own lesson, Hand taught the tech guru how to cook a whole barbeque chicken. "I have to admit you're got a very entry-level student," he warned Hand, before knuckling down to work.

He's candid about how cooking was a skill he wished he'd learned before. "It just wasn't something I was taught growing up," he writes in his blog. "Because I never learned how to make a healthy meal for myself, I ended up eating a lot more fast food than I should've-especially when I was young and early in my career."

Gates talks about how Hand takes personal interest in all of his students. In the 'Life After High School' class, he sends them on a mock job interview with a teacher at another school. Each student in the class is taught how to dress professionally and create a portfolio for themselves.If students can't afford to buy a new suit for a job interview, he helps outfit them at a local thrift store. Apparently he even stocks free food in his cooking class pantry in case one of his poor students comes in hungry.

Now, Hand is also working to expand his idea by running a teacher prep program for students that want to take up the profession themselves.

"I ask myself every day is what I'm doing today going to make students feel welcome and loved, because teaching is hard but growing up is harder," Hand says in the video.