If anyone gave Pueblo teacher Janae Passalaqua an apple, the veteran educator would thank the student and then immediately look for ways to prepare it, either exotically or conventionally. That’s just her nature.
Passalaqua, ‘Miss Pass’ to her students, is Pueblo East High School’s culinary arts teacher. She is also Colorado’s 2026 Teacher of the Year, so named by the Colorado Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences.
The Pueblo native, teacher and businesswoman, has been polishing her craft for 27 years, the first seven as a science teacher. Finding herself teaching culinary arts was not the plan. But like finding a winning lottery ticket, things worked out perfectly.
Twenty years ago, in the old East High—it’s since been demolished and replaced with a brand new building—Passalaqua’s principal asked, “Would you be interested in teaching Culinary Arts?” The question surprised her, but not in a bad way. As surprises go, it was a gift!
She already had a background in cooking and baking from helping her mother run her mom’s mid-town bakery, Aileen’s Cake Décor. There, she learned both baking and business, biscuits to billing. “We bake cakes for everybody,” she said. “We don’t care,” referencing a Denver-area baker who several years ago chose not to do business with a gay couple. That case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the baker ultimately prevailed.
Passalaqua also co-owns “Little Bits of Heaven,” a boutique bakery housed in Pueblo’s historic Union Depot and more recently, with family, bought a religious memento store, “Angels of Hope,” in the city’s midtown shopping center.
Teaching culinary arts, 21st century home economics, said Passalaqua, should not be thought of as an ‘easy credit.’ Baking, she said, requires that students apply science, precision and economics to their work. Measuring, converting and timing aren’t accidental. ‘Miss Pass’ stresses to her students that perfection, though not always achieved, is always the goal.
“I had a group of boys, they would drive me crazy,” she recalled. “They found a recipe on TikTok and asked, ‘Can we make this?’” They followed the recipe with precision. “Their cookies came out fantastic!” That single moment affirmed her belief that “they’ll grow, they’ll just get better.”
“I have every level of student,” said Passalaqua. Some are high achieving, middle of the road and low achievers, including “kids who don’t even like to come to school—the whole gamut.” But Passalaqua says no matter where they fall, each is treated fairly, firmly and with consistency.
Passalaqua’s affection for her students is evident in her voice. But when she’s teaching, she makes it clear, she’s in charge; she’s the boss. Her technique, she said, is simple: “Real world, real life.”
While there are similarities, her classes, she said, are all different and often surprising. “When you believe in all your students, you can get real results,” Passalaqua said citing a recent incident reaffirming her beliefs.
Passalaqua’s charges often bake for school functions and periodically for events outside of the building. Her students have also won cooking and baking competitions at the state level.
When she’s not in class or helping at one of her family’s businesses, Passalaqua is one of Pueblo’s biggest and most fanatic Denver Bronco fans. It’s an addiction—a good one—nurtured by her late father.
Sundays and the Broncos with her father was just what they did. “I became infatuated and crazy (for them),” she said. Sealing the deal with the team came when she was in elementary school and Bronco legend John Elway visited her school. “I got his autograph!”
During the fall, Passalaqua boards the Bronco bus for the two-hour trip from Pueblo to Mile High. “I buy half a season of tickets,” and regularly includes her nephews for the trip, her voice failing to conceal a genuine affection.
Passalaqua is happy with her career and even happier that it took place in Pueblo. “I love Pueblo, just love this town,” she gushes. It’s the city’s “people and the culture…how this community takes care of family.”
Passalaqua’s looking forward to summer break, a well-deserved summer break. But when summer ends, she’s always excited about getting back to the classroom and, next term, that means a classroom with “a new stove.” Always the little things.
The Fall will mark the start of her 28th year in the classroom. She’s OK with that but also looking ahead. “I’m gonna go seven more years,” she says. Then she’s passing the torch. It’ll be time to move on.
