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Career TEC’s culinary program wins national accreditation

Date: 8/31/2011

Aug. 31, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD —Students in the Career and Technical Education Center’s (Career TEC) Culinary Arts program, located at the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC) on Brush Hill Road, can now claim more than just a thorough knowledge of proper cooking techniques and kitchen practices.

They can boast their skills measure up to national standards.

Last week, the school’s administration learned its culinary program had received accreditation from the American Culinary Federation (ACF). The certification will be valid through June 30, 2014.

Based in St. Augustine, Fla., ACF is the premiere professional organization for individuals in the culinary arts. According to its Web site, the 20,000 member organization offers the most comprehensive certification for chefs in the United States. The ACF is also the only culinary education credentialing organization accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

In an ACF release announcing the school’s accreditation, the organization noted that certified programs such as the one at Career TEC must demonstrate both a “high level” of professionalism and employ the most current kitchen practices.

“It’s one of the most recognized standards [in the culinary world],” Melanie Chartier, Career TEC head teacher and culinary arts dining room hospitality instructor, said. She said it took herself, Culinary Arts Instructor Ann Kimball and former Executive Chef James Nolan approximately a year to complete the application process.

She added that applying for ACF accreditation represented a “huge commitment” in time and effort on the part of Career TEC’s administration, its instructors, and also, its students.

The on-site inspection process, she added, included evaluations of everything from the sanitation and cleanliness of the teaching kitchens to the organization of classrooms and lesson plans to the number of teaching methods employed by instructors.

“Your program can’t be sub-par to get certification,” she noted.

Donald Jarvis, Career TEC director, said receiving the ACF accreditation would give Career TEC’s culinary students a leg up, whether they choose to pursue additional training or work in the field.

“As a Chapter 74 [vocational and technical] school, we follow the state [education] frameworks, but [ACF] frameworks follow national frameworks,” Jarvis said. “[Our students] would be able to go anywhere in the nation and be recognized as [having mastered] national standards.”

Chartier said the Culinary Arts program’s decision to apply for the prestigious accreditation was both encouraged and supported by administrators at Career TEC, and reflects the school’s drive to insure as many programs as possible meet the highest standards available in those areas.

“It makes LPVEC stand out from other schools,” Chartier said, adding that program certification and accreditations can make a difference “when students have a choice to come to your school.”

Jarvis said LPVEC serves high school students from the Agawam, East Longmeadow, Hampden-Wilbraham, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Southwick and West Springfield school districts.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com



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