Chef Paul Niles never started with a clear plan. At fifteen, he stepped into a restaurant kitchen and kept going, moving from Boston to Washington, D.C., Florida, California, Nevada, and then Texas.
“It’s great because I get to cook — there’s a job everywhere,” Niles said.
Cooking gave him freedom, opportunity, and a path that allowed him to travel across the country. Teaching came later, unexpectedly. One of his regular customers, who was at the time the career and technology director at Denton ISD, was building the LaGrone Advanced Technology Center and asked Chef Niles, “How do you feel about teaching?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it, and we went from there,” Niles said.
Niles taught at the LaGrone ATC, later named LaGrone Academy, for many years before transitioning to Braswell’s campus at the start of the 2023–24 school year.
Every January, first-year students make pasta from scratch, turning flour, eggs, and sauce into something real.
“They realize they took all these raw materials and made these beautiful dishes,” Niles said.
When Niles asks, “How many of you thought when we started here in September that you could do something like this?” the answer is always the same: “No, we never thought we could do this.”
His impact extends beyond the classroom.
“One of my past students is now the Research & Development Chef at Campbell’s Soups,” Niles said. “Meghan Gill was a former student of mine as well. She’s the one that came in second on Hell’s Kitchen; her only formal education was my course.”
Seeing his students succeed in the industry and enjoy their lives is what matters most to him. At Braswell, he valued the support and respect of his colleagues.
“The Braswell administration respects the time of the teachers,” Niles said. “The people that I first worked with — Paxton Lisenbe Schantz and Melanie Garrison — were great; they really helped me out a lot. I enjoy working with the two new ones now, Britini Pond and Daniel Hart. I feel we are leaving the program in good hands.”
As he retires, Chef Niles reflects on the lives he’s touched. His legacy lives on through his students — in the skills he taught and the confidence he helped them find — proof that the work of a teacher lasts long after the final dish is served.
“I’m taking away the memories and the satisfaction of the influence I’ve had on several lives,” Niles said.
