Students from two Pulaski County High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs recently prepared for and passed the requirements to receive national certification through a partnership with Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association.
The ServeSafe Food Handler Course offers students training and instruction about food safety concepts such as sanitation, food storage, safety regulations, pest management, and safe food handling practices. Testing took place under the supervision of Laura Reasor of the Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
Students from the Culinary Arts I class, with instructor Mrs. Laura Norris, included Makya Fowlkes (not pictured) Al-ula Gray, Destiny Hall, Austin Higgs, Bryanna Hurst (not pictured), Angelina Martin, Megan Martin, Tyshera Phillips, Lizzy Price, Jade Ramsey (not pictured), Brooklyn Reeves, Silas Sweet, and Brevin Szerokman.
“Students who remain with the Culinary Arts Program and take Culinary Arts II have the opportunity to take the ServeSafe Manager Certification Course and receive certification for that as well,” Mrs. Norris said. “In order to operate a food service business in Virginia, you must have a ServeSafe Manager present in the restaurant. We’ve had students in the past who have earned this industry credential. We have a student who is currently working to pass the test and upon completion will be hired as a shift manager at a local restaurant. Three former students earned who are currently studying culinary arts at Virginia Western earned their ServeSafe Manager Certification while enrolled here at PCHS. Students who earn this in high school are able to bypass the food sanitation course, which is three credit hours, saving them time and money.”
Students from the Agriculture department, taught by Mrs. Carly Pavan-Ballard, included Mason Covey, Richard Golson, Lillian G. Sargent, Holden Crigger, Andrew J. Allen (not pictured), Justice Sipe, Zaine Bolling, Jadyn Elise McAlexander, and Camden Matney.
“For my students, this test was to test their knowledge on safe food handling and preparation,” Mrs. Pavan-Ballard said. “In the Applied Agricultural Concepts course, students learn about creating a produce garden where they plan, build, grow, and harvest crops from their gardens. The students in this class successfully grew produce that was used in lunches for all students at PCHS over the course of the semester. One of the goals of students earning the certification is so they could potentially get a job while in school in the food industry. This certification also goes on their resume and can help them in the future. Mrs. Norris and I had a goal to collaborate in the kitchen with our students, but that sadly has not happened due to unforeseen challenges. We normally do have projects together like the apple butter, but this year the apple trees dropped their apples early due to the odd summer weather we had.”