Ariz. sculpts high-school program from C-CAP model

Nation's Restaurant News, August 30, 2004 by Milford Prewitt

PHOENIX -- Arizona's Department of Education has endorsed a certification program based on the teaching methods of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program to give the state's high-school culinary students a career jump start that also should help industry employers.

Although the C-CAP program is active in 38 high schools in New York City and in 200 other schools across the country, Arizona's endorsement represents the first time an entire state has embraced C-CAP's training methods for its high schools' culinary-arts curricula.

Through the new program Arizona students who demonstrate proficiency in a number of entry-level skills, from using a knife to safe food handling, will be awarded a C-CAP Approved certificate. The certificate attests to the students' level of mastery of vital kitchen skills and should help them gain entry-level kitchen jobs by assuring employers of their competency.

For 15-year-old, New York-based C-CAP, which was founded by chef-instructor and cookbook author Richard Grausman as a way to help underserved public-school students pursue foodservice careers, the Arizona program is a step forward that could be a model for other school systems.

"Eventually, we expect this program will be available to any U.S. high-school student interested in certifying their skills for entry-level employment," Grausman said.

Arizona's first class of C-CAP students started this spring with 60 pupils, but that number is expected to grow to several hundreds, possibly thousands, in coming semesters as schools begin to use the program, according to Barbara Colleary, a culinary educator and C-CAP's Arizona director. She has been teaching C-CAP's methods to students and culinary instructors for more than 10 years.

Although state officials establish the core competencies for students and have approved both the C-CAP program and ProStart, a high-school culinary training program founded by the National Restaurant Association, the decision to use such programs rests with the culinary instructors at individual schools, Colleary said.

Lila Kleinkopf, state supervisor for family and consumer sciences, a division of Arizona's education board that administers culinary-arts programs in addition to those for hospitality management, fashion, interior design and other vocations, said culinary arts is the most popular vocational education program in Arizona. About 10,500 students are taking culinary occupational coursework in 123 of Arizona's 285 public, private and American Indian reservation high schools, she said.

Despite the autonomy of the local school boards, Kleinkopf said she expected that C-CAP Approved would be embraced widely by educators in the system.

"The teacher and students choose if they want C-CAP, ProStart or both, and we help them to obtain the cote competencies and standards that the state demands," Kleinkopf added. "But we have a very close relationship with our industry partners and teachers in the local colleges who support us with even more expertise, speakers and training opportunities to see that our kids land jobs.

Beyond food safety and knife skills, which include how to cut poultry and how to keep knives sharp, the C-CAP Approved skills include product and equipment identification, sanitation and dishwashing ability, portion control, pantry management, recipe costing methods, menu pricing strategies and some baking elements. Some front-of-the-house fundamentals also will be tested. And some students will vie for scholarships to attend college through competitions upon completion of the program.

An advisory board of chefs and educators came up with the list of skills the students should master. The board included chairman and executive chef Rick Sederholt, Scottsdale Plaza Resort/Remington's in Scottsdale, Ariz.; co-chairman Christopher Gross, chef-owner of Christopher's Fermier Brasserie/Paola's Wine Bar in Phoenix; and chef-owner Michael De Maria, Michael's at The Citadel in Scottsdale.

The Council of Independent Restaurants of America welcomed news of the C-CAP Approved program.

"The work of C-CAP in certifying training in basic skills to individuals who might not otherwise be provided with the opportunity to enter the culinary workforce is offering an invaluable and much-needed service and source to chefs and restaurateurs," said Donald Luria, CIRA president and owner of Cafe Terra Cotta in Tucson, Ariz.