{"id":133394,"date":"2021-01-05T09:47:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=133394"},"modified":"2021-01-05T10:27:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T20:27:52","slug":"culinary-training-amid-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/01\/05\/culinary-training-amid-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Culinary training changes amid COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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This is an excerpt from an article in the December 2020\/January 2021 issue of<\/a><\/em> Community College Journal.<\/p>\n

Chefs are used to making changes on the fly. So when the pandemic hit and culinary instruction had to move online at Kapiolani Community College<\/a> (KapCC<\/abbr>), John Richards<\/strong> didn\u2019t panic.<\/p>\n

Richards is the dean of career and technical education at the University of Hawaii Community College<\/a> and is a certified executive chef. He and instructors in the culinary arts program quickly developed an alternative curriculum over spring break that would still allow students to meet competencies. For hands-on instruction, food kits were created. Students would stop by the college once a week at staggered times to pick up the kits, and then get instruction over Zoom.<\/p>\n

Richards credits instructors for their innovation and adaptability.<\/p>\n

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“That\u2019s a chef\u2019s life: we have to figure it out and get it done,” Richards says.<\/p>\n

Despite the closure, KapCC<\/abbr> also was able to offer some on-campus internships for culinary students. More changes came in late summer and early fall. In August, the college shifted into hybrid mode, which allowed for some hands-on learning on campus. <\/p>\n