— Photos by Claudia Ferro

Rosemary Ryan, Dining Room Manager at Somerville High’s Culinary Department celebrated her retirement with family friends and students past and present at the Dante Club in Somerville on June 19.

Ryan has been teaching those skills at the program for over 30 years. She taught students in the program, as she described, “what you would do in outside restaurants.” She said, “We tell the students that we have customers come right off the street, and you need to start serving the tables.” Ryan talked about how students learn practical experience. “I treat my students as my real kids,” Ryan said.
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“I studied Hotel and Restaurant Management at Bunker Hill Community College,” Ryan said. “And the kids here are the biggest things I got from my last 30-year career. Every single kid I taught makes a big impression on me.”
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Alderman Bob McWatters presented her with a citation from the City of Somerville.