Bison Grill gives students experience, college credit

A classroom at Buffalo Grove High School converted into a chic grill last month, complete with waiters in dark pants and crisp white shirts, while their classmates worked in a commercial grade kitchen preparing the gourmet entrees.

It's a scene that will play out roughly once a month at the school, as the "Bison Grill" serves invited faculty and staff members seven times throughout the year.

However, there was more going on beyond the signature gourmet burgers, and homemade apple pie à la mode being served up. Students working the grill were earning college credit.

Foods teacher Ronna Dec is piloting the course, ProStart Culinary Arts, for Northwest Suburban High School District 214, and so far Buffalo Grove High School is the only school to offer it.

The class is a nationally recognized culinary curriculum, developed in part by the National Restaurant Association.

In it, students experience the world of professional cooking, learning everything from meal planning and food preparation, to safety and sanitation.

"As an added bonus, our culinary arts lab was completely renovated over the summer, into a commercial grade kitchen in preparation for this course," Dec says. "Now our students are learning on the same equipment as if they were in a restaurant. Not many schools have that."

Formerly, students commuted to Harper College for the course, receiving dual credit from both schools.

Dec describes the curriculum as "intensive," and requires students to have taken Foods I and Foods II, as prerequisites. However they still receive college credit plus high school credit for completing the course work.

"If they finish two years of the course work and pass the national exam, they will receive the ProStart certification," Dec adds. "That will definitely give them a leg up in the culinary field."

The first year course drew a full load of students, whose interests run the gamut, she says, from hoping to pursue the culinary arts as a career option, to those who want to further their cooking skills.