The County College of Morris (CCM) recently piloted a program for adults with developmental disabilities through the CCM Center for Workforce Development. The 8-week Culinary Opportunity Program (COP) that began on May 20th is designed to provide adults with disabilities with the training and qualifications to work in a range of food production environments including restaurants, cafeterias, specialty shops and ice cream shops. Participating students will pursue a certification of completion as well as the Serv-Safe Food Handling certification.  The Calais School has selected three high school seniors to attend COP along with our job coaches. Below is an essay written by Katie G. about her experience so far in the program.

When I found out that I had been chosen to participate in County College of Morris (CCM)’s brand-new Culinary Opportunity Program, I was very excited; I could barely contain myself! To me, being chosen to go out for the whole school day two days per week and learn vocational cooking skills is proof that I have been doing very well emotionally, academically, and at SLE.

Going to CCM for the Culinary Opportunity Program has been a great experience so far. The professor and assistants care greatly about the students in the class, and the class size is limited to a maximum of eight students so that everyone can get the help they need to succeed. I and the other students have our own chef’s uniforms that we wear, providing us with a more authentic kitchen experience.

In the first week of class, we learned Serv-Safe Food Handling and made personal pizzas for lunch. During our second class, we learned about the history of restaurant cooking, especially ​cuisine classique (French classical cooking), and we made chicken quesadillas.

For our most recent class, we learned about kitchen equipment and Bechamel sauce, one of the five French classical master sauces. We made a Bechamel sauce and turned it into a cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese, and then the professor gave a demonstration of how to make mozzarella cheese from curds.

For the rest of the eight-week course, we will be becoming Serv-Safe Food Handler certified and learning many other things, including the other four classical master sauces, mise en place, modern cooking, and hospitality skills. On the last day of the course, managers from food service establishments such as ShopRite and Wegmans, will be coming to CCM’s dining room for a lunch served by the students, whom the managers will potentially be hiring for positions at their companies.

The Culinary Opportunity Program is a wonderful course that has been preparing me and the other students for jobs in food service while also providing us with the enjoyment and satisfaction of not only learning a lot of useful information but also making and eating our own delicious food.

-Katie G.