The schedule for the next 10 month program is:
January 31, 2020 - January 30, 20 21 (Off July + August for summer)

Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

32 weeks - in-class instruction
8 weeks - work placement in the hospitality sector.
Work placement times may vary and students must be able to travel to their placements.

Location

Mountain Campus:
150 East 5th Street (at Brucedale)
905.577.0555, Press 5, then Press 0

FREE PARKING

$700.00 Material Fee which includes:

A chef uniform set
A set of Chef knives with bag
Textbooks and workbook
Safety Certification - WHIMIS, First Aid).
Safety Certification Training- Food Handlers, Smart Serve).

There were many cheers, lots of clapping, positive energy and even a shout of “I DID IT!” at this year's St. Charles graduation ceremony on June 20th (held at our 150 East 5th location). Credit, Culinary Arts and Personal Support Worker students were all smiles when they earned diplomas and certificates to reward their achievements.

Valedictorian Ramael Esho had good reason to be excited. His journey to that moment hadn’t been easy. While in Iraq he had to leave school for work to support his family. After four years, Ramael was unhappy and decided that education was the way to turn his life around. He came to Canada and took classes at St. Charles to complete his high school diploma.

“We should all feel proud of getting to this point tonight,” he explained, “because it was not an easy journey. We have many more opportunities available to us now, and we have accomplished an important goal.”

We wish all of our proud graduates luck on their new exciting journey, wherever it may take them.

We will be featuring a few stories about our upcoming graduates over the next few days. our first is Culinary Arts student Leizel Friesen

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My name is Leizel Friesen. I have been wanting to work in the culinary field since a long time. The thrill of preparing and serving delicious food always appealed to me. The passion of working with food and creating artfully prepared meals pushed me into finding out options to find a perfect, cost effective program within Hamilton. It happened when I was speaking to a friend in a meat factory where I worked that I came to know about this Culinary Arts program which is part of the HWCDSB. That student had previously studied here at this school. The past year has been a very eventful year and has helped me improve myself tremendously through various in class and practical experiences at school.

Through the grapevine at school and when connecting with my class mates I also found a job in an retirement home as a full time employee. I know that many of my other class mates have also found work opportunities at various locations. This program is not only an amazing opportunity to improve your skills at the same time being fun and eventful through out the year. There is a fair balance between classroom and kitchen activities and the coop option takes the cherry on the cake as it helps to make connections with the Hospitality and Tourism business. The flexibility within the program helps face challenging times with family and home and work and help the students achieve their dreams in becoming successful in the Food and Beverage field which encompasses a wide variety of opportunities.

The school year will end a few weeks but I will always cherish the 10 months I spent at the Culinary Arts Program at St Charles Adult and Continuing Education.

On December 6, 2018, St. Charles Culinary Arts students prepared and served a delicious Christmas turkey Lunch to 360 students and staff of Hess Street School. There was also mashed potato, stuffing, sauteed corn and carrot niblets, gravy and cranberry sauce. Yum!

Everyone enjoyed the wonderful meal and many were able to enjoy a second helping. This was all thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Hamilton Spectator.

St Charles and Mission Services have once again partnered to provide food demonstrations to the clients of Mission Services, once a month.

Chef Vijay Jos from the Culinary Arts Program at St Charles was at Mission Services at Wentworth St North to demonstrate healthy eating habits with emphasis on using the products the clients are able to get from the food bank.

Chef Vijay prepared Tuna Pasta Salad and Garden Vegetable Pasta Salad for the clients, emphasizing ways the same recipe can be used to prepare different dishes. The art of presentation and modification of recipes thrilled the clients and staff at Mission services. Everyone who tried the samples offered at the end of the demo were thrilled and were interested in more tips and advice about other dishes. As the winter months roll in, there will be more of these collaborative ventures offering soups, stews, and a variety of interesting meal options.