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From kitchen to classroom at City Tech

December 3, 2013 By Professor Patrick O'Halloran, City Tech For Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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There are times when someone’s career trajectory takes an unexpected turn. Options that may exist for Hospitality Management/Culinary Arts professionals are many, but there is one that is both interesting and not widely known.   

Becoming a certified public school teacher might not be the first career choice in the minds of culinary arts professionals, but it is worth consdiering. A unique program collaboration exists at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) in Downtown Brooklyn. Two of the departments in the School of Professional Studies — Hospitality Management and Career and Technology Teacher Education — have been collaborating successfully in recent years in providing culinary arts professionals an achievable path to becoming a licensed New York State teacher of culinary arts. In New York City and State, there are career and technical high schools that employ teachers of various trades. Teaching Culinary Arts is a viable option in the Food Service Occupational arena and is a classification that is licensed by New York State.
 
In the Hospitality Management/CTE partnership, students have a number of options to consider in becoming a certified CTE teacher of Culinary Arts. Students pursuing an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) or a four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree are eligible for the program. Essentially, students holding an sssociate or naccalaureate fegree with 30 credits in the culinary content area can take 20 credits of fducation courses, including internship and student teaching, and become a certified CTE teacher. The internship is a two-day-a-week, six-hours-a-day assignment in a public school working with a licensed culinary teacher. Following successful completion of the internship, the student enters student teaching, which is a three-day-a-week, six-hours-a-day in-depth experience in teaching under the direction of a cooperating teacher/mentor. Following this, the student need only completed the mandated state licensing exams required of all teachers.

This unique program has provided a number of Hospitality Management/Culinary Arts students with an interesting career option. The starting salary of a New York City public school teacher is currently $45,320. Teaching positions also have other valuable employee benefits.
 
Professor Patrick O’Halloran of the Hospital Management Department and Professor Tom Wilkin of the CTTE Department work cooperatively to ensure that all Hospitality Management Department students are aware of the teaching option and give it full consideration in their career decision-making process.

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