After 32 years of inspiring students to embrace their passions, Steve O’Neill, a beloved Franklin culinary arts teacher and head coach of the men’s wrestling team, is leaving for a well-deserved retirement. Throughout his time at Franklin, he has taught students essential cooking skills while fostering creativity and community.
O’Neill has been teaching and coaching at Franklin for over a decade. Before coming to Franklin, he taught at McDaniel, Ida B. Wells, Cleveland, and Roosevelt High Schools. Though he is well known by students now for teaching Culinary Arts, he hasn’t always taught the class; O’Neill, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree, originally taught Introduction to Psychology and AP Art History. When Franklin wanted him to become officially certified to teach AP Art History, he recalls telling then-principal Juanita Valder that “if I [were] going to get certified to teach something, it would be home economics. Luckily, I was at the right place at the right time.” Coincidentally, Franklin’s home economics teacher was retiring, and the principal wanted to start a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program to teach students to cook with a focus on business. Home economics was replaced by the Culinary Arts program, a four-year course of study led by O’Neill that teaches students about food preparation, kitchen safety skills, and the business aspects of the food and service industry.
Working in a kitchen is something O’Neill has always been fond of. “I’ve had a passion for cooking and baking since I was seven years old,” he explains. Starting at 14, he worked in his uncle’s restaurant every weekend, where he gained experience taking orders, serving, and cooking. Over the years, O’Neill has made connections with restaurants and professional chefs who have come into his culinary classes to work with students and teach them various techniques in the kitchen, establishing a program with outstanding quality and a broad community.
Since the culinary program began, it has become an extremely popular class. According to O’Neill, fewer than half of the students who forecast for Introduction to Culinary Arts, the first-year course, get in. After that, O’Neill explains that advancement to the next course “all depends on your grades, and how well you work in the kitchen.” In such a selective program, O’Neill estimates only 16% of students make it through all four years, and most of those who do are the students who want to pursue a culinary arts career path, as over 200 have done. “I love seeing how they go from kids who didn’t know how to hold a knife to working the line at high-end restaurants,” O’Neill says.
O’Neill also started the renowned pretzel cart in 2016, which gives students who help run it the chance to get hands-on business experience and make a profit that goes back into the culinary program to buy the groceries and supplies used in classes. Pretzels are sold during lunch and tutorial in the gym building. O’Neill hopes the pretzel cart business will continue running at catering events after his retirement, because he wants “students to keep being involved.”
Outside of the kitchen, O’Neill has encouraged students in Franklin’s wrestling program, having coached the Franklin men’s wrestling team for over a decade. As a wrestling coach, he has seen many generations of students within the same family through Franklin’s wrestling program. Andy Joel Martinez-Farfan, a Franklin senior who has been on the wrestling team for two years, says that O’Neill is the reason he loves wrestling. “You can tell he really cares for all of us and he has always pushed us to be better and to challenge ourselves,” says Martinez-Farfan.
Kilsi Naanee, a Franklin science teacher and the head coach of the Franklin women’s wrestling team, describes O’Neill as a “compassionate and dedicated mentor who truly cares about the kids he works with,” adding, “He’ll go above and beyond to support you in every way possible.” Stephanie Satoorian, a Franklin science teacher and assistant men’s wrestling coach, agrees, stating, “He has been someone that the wrestlers can depend on year after year.”
After O’Neill leaves, Naanee plans to continue his legacy of “taking the team from top performers to perennial league champions,” fostering growth on both the men’s and women’s wrestling teams. “Coach O’Neill’s greatest contribution to the wrestling team has been the strong sense of family he’s built over the years,” states Naanee, explaining that O’Neill has connected experienced and new wrestlers, as well as seasoned coaches and new ones, allowing everyone to grow and contribute.
He has also fostered this community in his culinary classes. O’Neill shares that some of his favorite memories have been emails from first-year parents saying how the final project — cooking and documenting a meal at home — has brought the family together. Jordan Nguyen, a Franklin sophomore in his second year of the culinary program, says, “I’m going to miss how he hits us with towels because we’re not paying attention.”
After retirement from Franklin, O’Neill will continue his culinary journey by running Atlas Pizza, the largest kitchen of the restaurant’s three locations, which supplies the others. He will be in charge of taking orders and making pizza dough, and wants to bring desserts to their menu. He plans to “keep bringing students in to work, even if it’s just for the summer.” Teaching has always felt like a natural calling for him, and he wants to “keep helping kids who want to take the culinary path, and giving them the opportunity for this experience.”
Additional post-retirement plans for O’Neill include traveling everywhere and eating everything. He’s also getting another tattoo that will read, “What does your recipe say?”— the saying he’s repeated the most during his time as a culinary arts teacher.
O’Neill advises students who want to pursue a career in culinary arts, “Don’t be afraid to try new things, because part of pursuing a career in culinary arts is making mistakes that you will grow from.” His impact, both in the kitchen and on the wrestling mat, will last for years to come.
