The Culinary Arts program at Questar III follows the ProStart curriculum developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which gives students the opportunity to learn about the art of cooking and managing restaurants by training with professional chefs and getting classroom instruction, while also earning college credit and making money while they’re in high school.
TV culture of celebrity chefs and cooking-related programming has awakened a surge of interest in culinary arts, but one of the more recent popular concepts around food has been sustainability and farm-to-table restaurants. Questar has a Farm-to-Table unit in the Culinary arts program that teams up with Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm, where students visit the farm, learn about food deserts, and source local produce to create dishes on-site. This experience further solidifies a hands- on learning experience while teaching strong lessons in sourcing and sustainability that will shape how these student think about the food industry and quality ingredients.
Culinary Instructor Peter Desmond says, “Some of our students would not normally get the opportunity to do this without the program. K farm has been very generous in collaborating with us on this program and it really helps students to learn about healthy foods, how they are grown, and more.”
Although most Questar III students continue their studies at organizations like SCCC (please give full names here) or CIA, some students have received scholarships to Johnson & Whales University, or end up going directly into the workforce to use their skills in job throughout the region.