Students can now ditch some of their notebooks and pens for chef’s coats and cooking tools at Greenport High School.

The district has launched a new Culinary Arts Career and Technical Education program, providing students with a local alternative to the traditional BOCES offerings and preparing them for college and careers in the foodservice industry.

“We have the space, we have the teacher, and it also provides an opportunity for our kids to stay here,” Superintendent Beth Doyle said. “What a wonderful opportunity to have them remain in Greenport, and it opens up their schedule. It was a no-brainer.”

The program — which is open to juniors and seniors — entails four specialized courses over their last four semesters. It’s also open to students at any of the neighboring districts. 

Year one has students taking Culinary Practices for Health and Wellness and Foundations of Professional Cooking. Year two consists of the Fundamentals of Commercial Artisanal Baking and Contemporary Culinary Arts.

Upon completion, students will earn four industry-recognized certificates: ServSafe Food Handler;  Nutrition, Food and Wellness; Retail Commercial Baking; and Culinary Arts Cook. 

They can also earn college credit through Suffolk Community College’s Culinary Arts Program. The class even uses some of the same textbooks that SCC would require.

“They can walk right into Suffolk and pursue hospitality and already be an upper freshman,” Principal Gary Kalish said. “If they go anywhere else, publicly, they’re generally accepted as well.”

The class is led by Liam Harley, whom students just call “Chef.”

“They’ll have a class on nutrition where we’ll take some recipes that they might encounter and some skills and techniques that they might encounter in professional cooking,” he said. “But we’re also going to practice learning to make them healthy using local produce.”

Mr. Harley said the class is going to work in collaboration with the school garden, along with local farmers, to hopefully use some of their crops. 

“We’re very excited to interact with the community that centers around the food industry,” Mr Kalish said. “With farm-to-table, there are a lot of opportunities for us.”

Ms. Doyle added that she’d love for Mr. Harley and the class to eventually support the school’s kitchen staff with healthier lunch options in the future as it grows. Currently, only about five students are signed up. 

Mr. Harley grew up in Massapequa and began cooking in his friend’s restaurant — Big Daddy’s — when he was just 14. He worked there every summer until college, starting as a prep cook and eventually becoming the line cook.

He then attended a six-month program at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, where he also spent three months working nights at Gramercy Tavern. 

“It was a grind, but I was also 19 years old, so I was handling that, and it was fun,” he said.

He worked with food for a while, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it forever, so he went back to school, studying English literature and anthropology at Colby College in Maine. 

Mr. Harley and his wife moved to Los Angeles after graduation, where he worked in a restaurant and as a butcher. But he missed Long Island.

So they came back, and Mr. Harley began running his family’s farm in Southold, Bhavana’s Blueberries. He also started working in Greenport, subbing for the first year and a half, and then began student teaching English. 

“I was hoping that a position would open; it turns out that didn’t seem like it was going to happen,” Mr. Harley said. “But I knew I wanted to stay here in Greenport; I loved it here. The kids, my co-teachers, everybody. I was like, anyway I can figure out how to stay in the district; let’s make it happen.” 

There was a home ec position opening, so he jumped at it, got certified, and is now entering his third year in the role, just with a little more cooking involved.

“I’m thrilled that we can offer this for our kids, and I look forward to just the program growing,” Ms. Doyle said.

The post Cooking up some new courses at Greenport High School appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

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