FARMINGTON — For a group of middle school students who love to cook, watching a professional chef demonstrate a live class on how to prepare a Greek meal at the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School in York was “awesome.”

“We could watch them cook on these big screens, and they showed us how to make baklava and a beef stew that had cinnamon in it that was the best thing I have ever had. Then we sat down and ate it,” said Dylan Reynolds, 12, a student at Mt. Blue Middle School and a member of the after-school club, Now You’re Cooking!

“It was incredible,” said Reynolds, who plans on pursuing a career in the culinary arts.

The cooking club was the first time a group of students was hosted at a Stonewall Kitchen class.

Club advisor Alyce Cavanaugh said the kids raised the money for the trip through fundraisers and by raffling off two donated tickets to the cooking school.

Stonewall Kitchen (www.stonewallkitchen.com) is known for its line of nationally recognized specialty foods made at its headquarters in York. The selection includes jams, sauces and other foods as well as a line of kitchenware and gifts. In addition to the cooking school, the company has nine retail stores along the East Coast.

Cavanaugh, the school health coordinator for Mt. Blue Regional School District, said the club started three years ago as a creative way to introduce new foods to kids, generate interest in healthy eating and promote the concept of eating local. The club meets twice a month after school to talk about food, about helping cater school events and to meet area chefs.

One of the club’s advisers is William “Bucky” Leighton, the food services production manager for ARAMARK at the University of Maine at Farmington, who will be helping students prepare and serve their year-end sit-down dinner at UMF next month.

“The trip was amazing. These kids were so respectful and well-behaved — they represented their school and their district well,” Cavanaugh said.

The food at Stonewall Kitchen was prepared by chef Anna Tourkakis in the professional kitchen set up at the front of the classroom. The students sat on tall stools in front of long tables, similar to those on the Food Network shows they like to watch, Cavanaugh said.

The highlight was eating the delicacies that Tourkakis and the staff had prepared, from the Greek bruschetta to orzo pasta with feta cheese salad to Greek beef onion stew and baklava.

After lunch, they were given a tour of the facility, the retail store, factory and the graphic arts department, where the glossy catalog is designed. By the end of the day, they had seen a variety of culinary-related careers that go beyond working in kitchens, Cavanaugh said.

Taylor Withey, 13, from New Vineyard, said, “The whole day was awesome.”

Jacob Hatch, 13, of Wilton, said being in the club has opened up a new world for him and he now likes to cook at home “just for the fun of it.”

Diane Wyder, a middle school French teacher and one of the chaperons, said the club has a “phenomenal” impact on the students .

“They are doing it because they have a genuine interest in food and want to know how to cook. It is an opportunity for those who may not be in sports or drama or music but who find their creativity in cooking,” she said.

Teacher Kim Fast, another chaperon, said Cavanaugh uses food as a way to pull together reading, literature, science, math and appreciation of world cultures.

“This club is really something special,” she said.