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Not quite Iron Chefs yet, but they're working on it
By JULIANNE WU
© St. Petersburg Times, SEMINOLE -- Some students stirred spaghetti sauce or cooked pasta Thursday morning at Osceola High School. Others dropped spoonsful of cookie dough onto greased baking sheets. Still others, like Bethany Boucher, 17, washed their cooking utensils after using them. "It's important to tidy up your area before you eat," shouted Marguerite Jirau, who teaches the culinary services classes at Osceola High. Some kids couldn't wait and began eating their spaghetti at 8:30 a.m. "She (Jirau) actually teaches you things you can use later on," said Bethany, a senior from Largo. "I want to be a park ranger, but cooking would be my second choice." Phillip Parlee, a senior from Seminole, agreed with Bethany. "I've had three jobs as a cook," said Phillip, 18, who moved from Boston earlier this year. "Cooking relieves tension. I love it and even do a lot of cooking at home." Parlee was busy icing a cake that would be served at a teachers' lunch later on Thursday. He wants to pursue a career in food services when he graduates, he said. Boucher and Parlee are just two of the 60 students whom Jirau, 53, teaches in the culinary services classes, which began second semester of last year at Osceola High. "Home economics used to be about cooking and science," said Jirau, who has over 32 years in the food service business. "But, culinary services is more about industrial cooking, food and kitchen safety and ethics." The program, designed as a possible career path for students, is one of only three in Pinellas County, said Jirau. The other two are at Tarpon Springs and Northeast high schools. Associates of Osceola's program include ProStart, developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation; the Florida Restaurant Association of Clearwater; Freedom Square and Lake Seminole Square retirement complexes; and others. Jirau said ProStart gives about $2,000 to $3,000 a year for Osceola's program and Freedom Square and Lake Seminole Square, whose parent company is American Retirement Corp., recently donated $5,000. There is also an advisory committee that helps Jirau with the curriculum. Freedom Square and Lake Seminole Square employ several students from Osceola's culinary services program as well as about 200 other youngsters from Osceola, Seminole, Largo, Pinellas Park, Gibbs and St. Petersburg high schools. While most of the students -- who are in the Pinellas County School district's diversified cooperative training program, or DCT -- get paid and earn school credit, Lake Seminole Square also employs seven special education students from Osceola's career-based program. The special education youngsters work two hours a day, three days a week, learning such skills as setting the tables and helping out with other kitchen chores. "They don't get paid, but they do get school credit and we give them lots of "perks' such as free movie passes and an annual awards banquet," said Kevin Mahany, Lake Seminole Square's dining services manager. Students from Osceola's culinary services program and the DCT classes from the six high schools work weekdays and get paid at least the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. They do "back-of-the-house" or "front-of-the house" work, said Mahany. Back-of-the-house employees include chefs, line cooks, prep (preparation) cooks and dishwashers. Front-of-the-house employees include hosts, servers, bus boys and the like. Mahany, 39, a 1979 Largo High graduate, has been working with Osceola High on the various programs and doing on-campus recruiting there for more than four years, he said. On Oct. 31, Mahany and his staff and the Freedom Square dining services staff will help Jirau's classes prepare the quarterly Principal's Brunch at Osceola High, hosted by principal Doug Smith. Previously, the two retirement complexes alternately hosted the brunches, which are for students nominated by their teachers for some type of behavior or academic turn-around, their parents and teachers. "We know that not all high school students go on to college," said Mahany, who has spent 18 years in the food and beverage business. "Kids can find a niche for themselves and can almost write their own ticket. The food business is all about results, how you deal with the public and responsibility."
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