As a part of the recipe for success, C-CAP provides professional development workshops. The hands-on and lecture-based workshops for teachers have covered knife skills, cooking and pastry techniques, butchering and other kitchen-based training. With the help of Total Food Service, Anna Borgman, C-CAP National Culinary & Alumni Program Manager, worked with Jetro/Restaurant Depot in the Bronx to show the teachers how to shop like a chef.
Anna worked with Total Food’s Publisher Fred Klashman and Creative and Advertising Director Michael Scinto to create a truly invaluable day for the teachers that broadened their knowledge of the industry and brought them together as a community.
On November 8, when schools were closed for Election Day, Jetro/Restaurant Depot hosted sixteen culinary teachers from around the city.
Megan Klevman, Director of Marketing & Sales, designed a tour so the teachers could explore the 250,000 square foot wholesale food distribution warehouse from front-to-back – receiving a behind the scenes tour of each of their departments, meeting with team members of all levels to hear about their responsibilities and career path, and learning the ins-and-outs of how the company and warehouse runs: including how they receive over $1.2 million a day in product, manage inventory and still pass on a 20% savings to the customer.
In addition to putting the teachers in the shoes of the employees, from reception to check out, she also made sure that the teachers had an opportunity to listen to each other about the school year to date, share their ideas, best classroom practices, and leave inspired to make a difference for their students outside their classrooms.
The day made quite the impression on the teachers, as Chef Mayra Valdes of East River Academy said, “The way in which I will use my experience today is through using the information to make the learning experience as real world for my students as possible. I will use the invoice or order guide for product identification and inventory control, apply culinary math, and discuss career and industry opportunities in the culinary arts that are not limited to work in restaurants.”
According to Anna, “C-CAP’s teacher professional development day at Jetro Restaurant Depot served as an invaluable connection to the industry for our high school culinary teachers. It provided them with an in-depth look at the intricacies of a wholesale food distributor from both the customer and the business side, as well as gathered them together as a community to share their common experiences and best practices in the classroom.”
At a time when the labor market has never been so competitive or uncertain, it is very important for C-CAP to partner with the industry to provide professional development programs that give teachers access to resources that help them to continue to be connected to the foodservice and hospitality industry as they nurture and accommodate millennial-era talent.
Each school year, teachers have the opportunity to participate in at least three workshops with the aim of deepening teachers’ knowledge to better prepare students to meet the standards identified by post-secondary and industry as essential for their successes in college and the workplace.
The professional development workshops are designed specifically to enhance teachers’ knowledge of essential skills, techniques and current information so they can pass on the skills and information to their students. To ensure the workshops are relevant and effective, C-CAP relies on teachers’ feedback, employers’ feedback of students in C-CAP Summer Internships Program, classroom observations, and information from the Department of Education and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Council.
If you would like to host a professional development workshop for the teachers, please contact joyceappelman@gmail.com
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