PALM BEACH AND MONROE COUNTIES WORK AS PARTNERS FOR THE
VOLUNTARY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE GRANT
By Elizabeth Shapiro
Marathon High School, Palm Beach County’s Volunteer Public School Choice (VPSC) grant partner school, started an after school culinary program for middle school students as a way to recruit eighth graders for the new Choice Culinary Career Academy starting in the fall of 2009. The after school program, which meets twice a week, is where the students learn basic knife skills, culinary terms, and food service sanitation and safety as well as commercial tools and equipment.
Mark Hooper, Monroe County support specialist, and Chef Anthony Green, culinary teacher at Marathon High School, attended the Annual ProStart Culinary Competition February 8, 2009 in Orlando. Observation of the event was encouraged by Florida Restaurant and Hotel Association to familiarize participants with requirements of the competition. Chef Green took pictures to share with his Choice Culinary Career Academy students for participation in next year’s competition.
The Dolphin Grill, a student training facility at Marathon High School, is scheduled to open in the fall. This facility will provide the culinary students an opportunity to learn how to work in various restaurant positions such as prep cook, line cook, baker, dishwasher, host/hostess, server, and bus person. This facility is available for school sponsored events but will not be open to the public.
On Friday, March 20, the culinary students at Marathon High School hosted “Dinner On the Patio” in the courtyard of the school. The students prepared and served a pasta and salad buffet to over 500 teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders. The money raised by ticket sales generated funds to buy supplies for the Dolphin Grill.
The menu for the second “Dinner On the Patio”, on Friday, May 1, was corn chowder or white bean soup, chef salad, pork or fish entrée and vanilla cheesecake, strawberry
short cake or banana cream pie for dessert. $10 all you can eat!!! All proceeds will benefit the Dolphin Grill.
This summer the Education Coalition of Monroe County will sponsor Arts and Education Camps at Marathon High School. One of the eight week camps will be a culinary camp with Chef Anthony Green as the teacher. This camp will target for students from sixth grade to twelfth grades and will provide a great opportunity for the students to learn about the Choice Culinary Career Academy starting in the fall.
In May, Mark Hooper and Chef Green will visit Monroe County eighth grade middle school social study classes to recruit for the first ninth grade Choice Culinary Career Academy for the 2009-10 school year. An informative recruiting brochure was created by Palm Beach and Monroe Counties. This brochure will be sent home to the parents
