Hattiesburg High School sophomore Rachel Johnson and 19 of her fellow Culinary Arts students now have a new home to hone their craft, featuring a professional kitchen, serving area and an upcoming garden area.
Officials from the Hattiesburg Public School District and the Area Development Partnership cut the ribbon on the new space, which is located adjacent to the main building at the high school, during a ceremony Tuesday.
“It means a lot,” Johnson said of the program and the new space. “You have very many connections with people that otherwise, I feel like I wouldn’t have gotten in touch with them. So it’s just like a second family.”
Remodeling of the new space, which formerly housed classrooms, began back in September. Culinary Arts students and staff spent the last few months painting walls, hanging curtains, re-covering chairs and unpacking equipment to transform the space into the new culinary area.
Previously, the students had met in a building at the front of the campus, which has been demolished to make room for upcoming renovations, including 12 new classrooms, an administrative office, three additional special education classrooms and HVAC upgrades.
“It’s a beautiful facility, and the back is just a huge restaurant operation,” Culinary Arts instructor Toni Floyd said. “We are so fortunate to have equipment, and resources and materials, that all the restaurants have.
“This gives our students a wonderful opportunity in the hospitality industry. Hopefully, we’re preparing great workers, and just getting them ready to go into their career world, their adult world.”
The Culinary Arts program at Hattiesburg High is a two-year program that implements an industry-based curriculum that includes kitchen basics, safety and sanitation, customer service, food preparation, baking and an introduction to culinary nutrition. The program emphasizes teamwork and interpersonal skills, academics and technical skills.
“I can say that I’ve learned how to get along with other people very well, especially under stressful situations such as serving large groups of people,” Johnson said. “It means a lot to me, because it’s a skill that you can use for the rest of your life, and it’s not something you’re just going to use at school and never use again.”
Through the course of the program, students work together in groups to complete recipes, plan and prepare for receptions or functions where food is served, and develop problem-solving skills as situations arise in the kitchen. Upon completion, the students are prepared for a career in the hospitality industry and will hold nationally-recognized industry certifications.
“We have many students that already work in the restaurant industry, and we’re very blessed that all of our culinary students are ServSafe certified,” Floyd said. “So it helps them if they pursue scholarships, or if they’re going back into the industry, that they have those certifications.”
With more interest in the program every year, Floyd sees the program growing in the near future – especially with the use of a fenced-in space in the back of the building.
“I hope we can have a culinary garden, where we can do some farm-to-table,” she said. “They can go out the door and pick their herbs or vegetables and things like that, maybe have some tables and chairs back there for a café setting. So we’ve got some plans for the future.”
