CCAP on the road to success...for many more students

Okay - September's about done! It's almost past time, but we're ready now: Back to school! CCAP Arizona, you, too!

CCAP Arizona director Jill Smith and her team (including Nicole Swartz, Dr. Carrole Wolin and Leslie Gennaro) met with more than two dozen culinary teachers and instructors from high school culinary programs throughout the state recently.

On the agenda: CCAP Arizona's calendar for the coming year, how teachers can help students prepare, and how to work with students to help them decide whether competition or training is the best path forward.

This means, Jill notes, that while CCAP will continue its well-established, highly recognized competitive scholarship program with attendant focus on select hard skills, those who need and/or want to enter the workforce ASAP will find skills and work training designed to give them a distinct edge both in applying and in becoming successful in a tough, demanding profession.

Competition training will focus primarily on those skills needed specifically for competition, providing a thorough grounding in an array of essential and basic kitchen skills.

Job training will include an emphasis on essential hard skills, in combination with a host of additional skills and "best practice" techniques designed to give students a practical edge in almost any entry-level hospitality position.

Two separate job shadowing experiences with professional chefs will help to insure the job training has, in fact, helped to prepare students for real work at a real work place.

"We are increasingly focused on helping culinary students reach career goals through a path that is right for them," says Jill. 

CCAP will maintain its extensive scholarship awards and assistance, while affording students whose primary need/desire is to begin working in hospitality as soon as possible a distinct advantage in securing an entry level position that sets forth a true path for success.

Coming soon:

CCAP's 2017-18 calendar of classes and events. Also, don't miss what some teachers have to say about their students and CCAP!

CCAP Arizona extends "culinary lab" to job-ready training

We slice, we dice, we cook, we award scholarships..but wait, there's more! 

Both nationally and here in Arizona, we're still slicing and dicing (and, of course, awarding scholarships) - but there's a critical difference these days.

Scholarships are still a primary element, but a growing appreciation for both student and industry needs is leading to a new focus on those culinary students who perhaps perform poorly in the stress of competition, or who wish to focus on work before additional classroom time.

According to CCAP Arizona director Jill Smith, students and teachers will see a growing emphasis on culinary training not specifically structured for scholarship competition.

Hard and soft skills alike will be addressed through increasing "culinary lab" times available to both competitors and other culinary students.  Using Rouxbe Online Cooking School lessons, coupled with real-life kitchen and academic experiences, students will become "career ready," Jill says.

Job searches, resume and business letter writing, interviewing techniques - and kitchen etiquette! - are all topics that are included along with basic kitchen skills reviews and assessments.

"We're not anticipating that students will complete these classes and be ready to take on a sous-chef position," Jill says.

"But they'll be more than ready to show up ready for work - and ready to succeed."

Keep an eye out for more information about CCAP Arizona's "new and improved" culinary lab sessions throughout this coming school year. And remember - the competition is still there!

CCAP Arizona jobs program to boost state's hospitality industry

Every school year, around 200 or so junior and senior culinary students across Arizona sign up to compete in an annual scholarship competition in the kitchen. Through the Careers in Culinary Arts Program, they have the opportunity to win anywhere from about $1,500 to more than $100,000 in culinary scholarship dollars. But only 30 or so will make it to finals.  What happens to those who don't make it - or who don't relish competitions?

It's not just about the competition.

CCAP Arizona is ready to move into a critical role that can help Arizona's biggest industry both grow and advance exponentially over the next few years.

Beyond scholarships and structured training leading to degrees in culinary and in Arizona an opportunity to take a big first step in this state's 21 billion dollar hospitality industry.

This past summer, 11 recent CCAP grads participated in a ten-week job training program. It's based on the national CCAP professional certification program, and focuses on both "soft" and "hard" skills.

The program also relies on the web-based Rouxbe culinary program, which allows participants to test themselves in a range of culinary skills, from knife work to basic prep.

"These students were all successful competition participants," explains Arizona's CCAP director, Jill Smith.

"While we reviewed and assessed their technical skills throughout the summer, our main focus was on 'soft skills,' such as letter and resume writing, social media use, front-of-the-house-work - and personal interactions!"

Activities included working with CCAP's Veggie Valet program at Phoenix's public market, reading for the CCAP Book Club (Marcus Samuelsson and Richard Grausman were just two of the authors covered), and coordination and cooperation with the Arizona Dairy Council. 

Students also completed and tested through Rouxbe's online culinary program.

"We've really developed a structured program with measurable results," Jill says. 

"What has been especially gratifying to all of us who've worked to make this program happen is that, this summer, we've truly been able to see growth in each of our students - not just professionally but also as caring persons who have grown greatly in their capacity to connect with others in a shared journey."

She and the CCAP Arizona team, including Nicole Swartz, Dr. Carrole Wolin, and Leslie Gennaro, are completing details of a program they plan to begin implementing this fall.

The gist of this program is that it will be available to all culinary students in participating schools - not just to students who sign up for competition. The intent is to help meet industry needs and help students meet their culinary career goals.

"We want students to finish this course knowing they are proficient in their culinary skills, that they understand how to work, and know that when they show up on time they are ready to work," Jill says.

"CCAP has a stellar reputation," she adds, "and we want to be able to have a positive impact with as many students as possible becoming the next leaders in hospitality."

Arizona's hospitality industry is expected to reach $12 billion in sales just this year.  Overall, the industry is growing faster than any other economic sector in the state - and is expected to hold that position for at least the next decade.