Mike Hardin wrote:I think this is relevant to many skills. Formal schooling can only teach you so much. Getting "down and dirty" in the actually workings of many trades is where the real learning begins.
I think there are a lot of things to be taken from this piece. There are obviously some good local cooks and chefs that have come out of this program. My experience in the 2.5 years I've lived and worked in Louisville has been that the talent pool from Sullivan is very wide but not very deep. These for profit schools hype these kids up about how they'll be head chefs running these 5 Michelin starred restaurants upon graduation. They probably don't even tell the students you can only get a Michelin rating in 5 areas of the United States.
I think another big piece to take from this is that you're going to get out of culinary school what you put in. I had 8 years experience working in franchise, corporate kitchens before I decided to go to school, not Sullivan, and I actually researched the program and spoke to instructors about the curriculum. I feel like culinary school is one of the only educational institutions where students will go in without learning about the program they're about to spend $40,000 on. I'm sure premed students understand what will be required from them once they enter medical school and what their education will entail. It shouldn't be much different for any type of degree program.
I find it very strange that in a city like Louisville, that is so culturally geared toward restaurants and food, that the culinary programs aren't taken more seriously and held to a higher standard by leaders in our industry than say a school in Bismark. A lot of these kids are going to be fueling this industry in the future and I feel that it's up to the programs offered, and the restaurant industry itself, to take an interest in the future of these kids. I offer an open door policy for any one that wants a stage in my kitchen to see if this is the right career choice for them and if they can actually handle the work.