116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Lacking ingredient for Cedar Rapids culinary students: adequate kitchens
A $220M bond issue would fund career and technical education
Oct. 23, 2023 5:30 am, Updated: Oct. 24, 2023 9:24 am
This is the second installment in an occasional series about career and technical education in Cedar Rapids schools.
CEDAR RAPIDS — Cooking together is a family tradition for many students in Washington High School’s culinary program.
Last week, students in an industry-level cooking class called ProStart made fettuccine noodles from scratch, measuring pasta flour before making a deep well in the flour to add eggs, water and oil, and mixing it together. The students were careful to ensure the dough was not too crumbly or too wet before rolling it through a pasta thinner and cutting it to noodle length.
Hayleigh Wallace, 16, a sophomore at Washington High, said she began learning how to cook and bake with her grandmother, who died two years ago. Now, Wallace is learning how to develop her own recipes with a dream of being a personal chef or opening her own restaurant.
“I get good ratings,” said Wallace with a smile, who finds joy in sharing her dishes with friends and family.
ProStart is a career and technical education program, through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, to teach high school students culinary skills and restaurant management principles, as well as communication, teamwork, professionalism and time management skills.
The class is just one career and technical education class taught at Washington High by Elizabeth Ohloff. It is the only school in the Cedar Rapids Community School District with a kitchen that has the industry-level equipment required to teach ProStart.
Jefferson High School student Jacob Nassif, 17, is transported daily to Washington High just to take the advanced culinary class. Nassif began learning to cook about seven years ago when his mom started asking him to help with dinner, he said as he grated Asiago cheese for Alfredo sauce.
Now, he’s “clearly the best cook in the family,” he said with a laugh.
About 300 students each year take a culinary class at Washington High, Ohloff said.
“Food is a huge motivator,” Ohloff said. “They’re learning to make it from scratch, taking those skills home and showing it to their families. There’s a lot of pride there.”
While Jefferson and Kennedy high schools offer some entry-level culinary classes, the classrooms are outfitted with kitchens that resemble what it looks like to cook at home, said Kennedy High Associate Principal Robert Johnson during a tour of the school last week arranged by the Cedar Rapids Community School District for community leaders and media.
Washington High’s kitchen, however, was remodeled about a decade ago with a combination of district funds and a grant through the Iowa Department of Education for career and technical education upgrades.
The total cost of the remodel was $130,000, and equipment was an additional $73,000, said Tara Troester, content lead for career and technical education in Cedar Rapids schools.
This is the second article in a series where The Gazette explores career and technical education programs in the Cedar Rapids district — and the infrastructure needed for the programs to keep up in the 21st century.
Additions to Cedar Rapids high schools for career and technical education is one priority of the district’s facility plan that would be funded by a $220 million general obligation bond issue heading to district voters Nov. 7.
A renewed focus on career and technical education also is a part of the district’s strategic plan, approved last month by the school board. District leaders have set a goal of improving graduation rates by 10 percent and ensuring every graduate leaves with college credit or industry certification by May 2027.
At Kennedy, students are turned away from career and technical education classes including culinary, welding, woodworking, construction and even fashion design because of small classrooms that aren’t up to industry standards.
Classes are offered first to high school seniors, since it is their last chance while in high school to “find something they’re passion about,” Johnson said. But that doesn’t leave time for the students to go deeper into the career field and even earn an industry certificate before graduation, he said.
About 14 percent of students in the Cedar Rapids district graduate high school with college credits, compared with 32 percent statewide.
“We have to turn students away,” Johnson said.
That instead leaves students enrolling in a study hall or elective they don’t find as engaging, and they end up dropping the class, Johnson said.
In an ideal world, Johnson said, he would like to double the size of each classroom and the number of students able to enroll in each of those classes.
About 80 percent of students who dropped out of high school say that real-world learning and seeing the connection between school and a good job would have kept them in school, Troester said.
Students who concentrate in an area of career and technical education while in high school, however, have an average graduation rate of 94 percent.
Students with a disability who are in career and technical education also have better outcomes, with 3 percent fewer absences, 5 percent more likely to graduate on time and 20 percent more likely to be employed after graduation, Troester said, citing national data.
Ohloff also would like to see a larger investment in career and technical education programs in the district. One of her dreams is to incorporate agriculture classes — not currently offered in any schools in the Cedar Rapids district — into the culinary program. Students would be able to use vegetables and herbs in their dishes grown on campus in a greenhouse, Ohloff envisions.
Students at Metro High School — an alternative school in the Cedar Rapids district — currently are working on amenities to add to a greenhouse constructed on school grounds last year.
The Washington High culinary program partners with some of the world language classes. Last year, they worked with students in a Japanese class to make miso soup. They also had students in a German class translate a cake recipe the students then had to use to make a cake.
Ohloff said she didn’t have much experience with cooking and baking until she was an adult. Eventually, she went to Kirkwood Community College where she earned a degree in baking and pastry arts.
Ohloff also teaches interior and fashion design at Washington High. She encourages students interested in interior design to consider while still in high school enrolling in Kirkwood’s Interior Design and Interior Architecture program, the only two-year program of its kind in Iowa.
Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) gives instruction to sophomore Hayleigh Wallace (left) and senior Jacob Nassif (center) during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Nick Rosendahl makes fettuccine noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Nick Rosendahl makes fettuccine noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (second from right) instructs senior Jonathan Maynard, senior Mason VanGorkom, and Senior Nick Rosendahl (from left) during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Jonathan Maynard (left) and Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) roll noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Jonathan Maynard (left) and Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) roll noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hannah Allers (left) and Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) roll noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff, sophomore Hannah Allers, senior Jonathan Maynard, senior Mason VanGorkom, and senior Nick Rosendahl (from left) work to make noodles from scratch during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hannah Allers separates noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
sophomore Hannah Allers, senior Nick Rosendahl, and senior Mason VanGorkom roll and cut fettuccine noodles from scratch during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) assists sophomore Hayleigh Wallace (left) in cutting noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (right) assists sophomore Hayleigh Wallace (left) in cutting noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hannah Allers, sophomore, Hayleigh Wallace, and junior Prince Madu cook noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hayleigh Wallace drops noodles into a pot during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hayleigh Wallace cooks fettuccine Alfredo during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Jonathan Maynard, Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff, and Senior Nick Rosendahl (from left) work to prepare fettuccine Alfredo during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Jonathan Maynard (right) and Family and Consumer Science teacher Elizabeth Ohloff (left) sepparate noodles during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Jacob Nassif (left) and sophomore sophomore Hannah Allers (right) pour Alfredo sauce during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Nick Rosendahl plates fettuccine Alfredo during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Senior Nick Rosendahl plates fettuccine Alfredo during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Sophomore Hayleigh Wallace grates cheese onto fettuccine Alfredo during a culinary class at Washington high School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The class is part of the district’s career and technical education program. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
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