PEARCY -- University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College recently signed its first articulation agreement with a high school to give Lake Hamilton High School students the opportunity to earn up to 15 hours of college credit in the areas of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management.
Amanda Porter, family and consumer sciences teacher at Lake Hamilton High School, is in her ninth year teaching food productions and her fifth year at Lake Hamilton. The high school established its first "pocket academy" during the 2016-17 school year for Food Productions programs of study. She takes students to Pulaski Tech's Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute in Little Rock each year.
"Last year, I took my Food Production career academy students, so they could see the possibilities and schools where they could go after they gain skills here, if they wanted to further their education and go that direction," Porter said.
Principal Frank Stapleton said the Lake Hamilton administration did not hesitate when they were presented with the option to partner with Pulaski Tech.
"We want to develop all of our programs," Stapleton said. "Our goal right now is to try to find more and more ways to make education relevant for our students. Anything that helps them make that connection between what they are doing here in school and what they are going to be doing when they leave here is a piece of that."
Renee Smith, director of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute, reached out to Porter and Lake Hamilton earlier in the year. Porter has previous experience in food service and has continued to further her education, including a course at Pulaski Tech this summer.
"It had everything to do with (Porter)," said Assistant Principal Shane Aitken. "We just had to pay for it. She's the ticket."
"There are not very many food production programs in the state; just a few," Porter said. "Then, there are only a few culinary arts programs with that. So we are all kind of lumped together, but there's really a handful of us that teach those programs of study."
The high school modified its courses to align with Pulaski Tech programs. Students must fulfill all of the prerequisites of Family and Consumer Sciences, Food Safety, and Food and Nutrition to take the final course, Food Production, Management and Services.
Students are able to test and earn the ServSafe Manager certification administered by the National Restaurant Association and accredited by the American National Standards Institute-Conference for Food Protection. ServSafe training and certification is the most recognized by federal, state and local jurisdictions.
"In order to earn those 15 hours, they have to complete all of my courses," Porter said. "Currently, they have to have me three years in a row. They know if they do not pass and earn that certification, then they will not get the 15 hours."
More than 90 students are currently enrolled in the credit-eligible courses, including more than a dozen in the final Food Production, Management and Services course.
Family and consumer sciences teacher Lisa Stanley joined the school this year to teach introductory courses and splits time between the high school and the junior high. Melody Gilleran also teaches an introductory class.
The district consulted with Porter and other teaches in redesigning the areas of the school now renovated with the final projects deriving from the millage campaign in 2013. A new dining area at the high school allowed other sections to be renovated.
The new family and consumer sciences area consists of a classroom, a sewing lab and a food productions lab, which includes six residential mini kitchens with two-compartment sinks, a dish washer and a residential stove. The renovations added a commercial kitchen with a commercial vent system, featuring an Ansul system-type hood, convection oven, fryers, a stove, a three-compartment sink, ice maker and a commercial-size mixer.
A second Sports Medicine pocket academy was added for the current school year. The district previously announced plans to implement four or five full career academies with multiple programs of study by the 2018-19 school year. Representatives from Lake Hamilton plan to travel to Nashville, Tenn., at the end of this month for the National Career Academy Coalition's 21st annual Conference.
"I was really proud that Pulaski Tech, or anyone else, was reaching out because, to me, that meant they recognize that our program and our instructor are doing such a great job," Stapleton said. "They recognize that and they want our students to be their students because of the foundation they get here."
Porter said the Food Productions program has joined the Greater Hot Springs Area Chapter of the Arkansas Hospitality Association with plans to participate in more competitions and more events. Assistant Principal Lori Bush said a school visit hosted at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena last school year stood out to her.
"We were blown away by what they were doing and I know the other schools were really impressed to," Bush said. "It is really amazing what they learn in a very short amount of time and they are so serious about it."
Local on 10/08/2017