CENTER POINT, Texas – Students in the Center Point Independent School District are learning important life skills through their culinary arts program, including cooking, safe food handling, sanitation and hospitality.
These skills not only benefit students personally but can also help them pursue jobs or careers in the hospitality and food industries.
Lead culinary arts teacher Kimberly Young has taken the program to a new level, from a two-classroom room turned kitchen to an industrial-sized kitchen.
“About the last five years, six years, we have grown a lot of interest in the program,” Young said. “Some [students] are already working in the restaurant industry, and some are looking to work in the restaurant industry or go to culinary school after high school.”
The program pushes students out of their comfort zone. In January, they opened the Pirate Bistro to the public for the first time, offering takeout or dine-in, preparing 65 meals.
The experience had some students nervous.
Isella Martinez, who oversaw keeping everyone in line, praised the program.
“It’s just such an amazing program to have, especially with those kids who don’t know how to cook and have to wait for their parents to get home, for them to learn how to be more independent and how to more self-aware in the kitchen,” Martinez said.
Students could also practice to take a test that will certify them to work.
The Pirate Bistro offers small catering for community organizations and will be open once a month for dine-in or takeout. Tickets could be purchased in advance.
To see Pirate Bistro’s next opening and place an order, click here.
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