Start prepping NOW for your dream job or work-anywhere trade skills!
Get Your Appetite Up for a Career in Food Service and Hospitality
A mouth-watering recipe incorporates the right blend of ingredients, passion and attention – and an award-winning menu is made up of a diverse selection of delicious yet healthy meals. Do you love creating in the kitchen? Are you fascinated with food, nutrition, dining and hosting? Do you dream of a rewarding hospitality career spent in a renowned restaurant or hotel? If this sounds like you, then a career in the culinary or hospitality industries could be exactly what you’re craving. With a broad range of activities, insights, experiences, connections and introductions in the fascinating worlds of food service and hospitality alike, this program presents a unique and invaluable opportunity to get a head start on your dream career. In addition to providing California state certification in food handling as well as kitchen safety and sanitation, the program is articulated with Oxnard College’s culinary program, providing credits for a head start in college.
What You'll Learn
From 9th grade upward, enroll in A-G approved courses to start preparing for your career in the culinary or hospitality industry. Classes include:
- CTE Concentrator Culinary & Hospitality
- CTE Capstone Culinary & Hospitality Honors
What You’ll Do
Take what you’re learning in the classroom into the real world and experience for yourself all that awaits you in the fast-moving and ever-evolving culinary and hospitality industries. Hands-on, immersive experiences include:
- Weekly cooking labs
- Menu and recipe creation
- Leadership roles and opportunities
- Food and knife safety, sanitation and storage certification
- Industry internships
- Field trips to local farms
- Restaurant and food-tasting tour of local businesses
- Tour of local hotels
- Job-shadowing at local hotels
Who You Can Be
Kickstart your career path with top-tier academic instruction and industry-leader insights. The Food Service and Hospitality program prepares you for potential careers such as:
- Prep Chef
- Line Chef
- Food Server
- Hotel Front Desk Clerk
- Food Service Professional
- Hospitality Professional
Industry Average Wages: $56,310
Projected Industry Growth: 2.7%
What You Need to Know
VUSD’s Food Service and Hospitality CTE track prepares students for successful careers in the culinary and hospitality industries, which includes jobs like prep and line chef, food server, food service professionals, hospitality professionals and hotel front desk clerk. Students (grades 9 and up) learn a wide range of vital skills such as menu and recipe creation, food and knife safety, sanitation and storage skills, nutrition and cooking techniques (including weekly cooking labs), leadership development, agriculture production, customer service strategy and more. The program is based at Ventura High School and consists of two sequenced courses. Students learn and sharpen skills in both individual and group situations and settings, and internship opportunities are also available. Students also take field trips to learn directly from professionals and experience real-world working scenarios at area farms, businesses and hotels. Students emerge from this information- and experience-rich program with enhanced skills, confidence, Serve Safe and California State Food Handler Certification, direct access to a powerful pathway and Oxnard College Culinary Program credits.
Once you have gained the skills and knowledge in this pathway, there are many options for your next steps after high school - some you can even begin pursuing before you graduate!
2 Year
AS Culinary - Ventura College
4 Year
BS Hospitality & Tourism Management - Cal Lutheran University