DoDEA

PEACHTREE CITY, GA — December 17, 2008 — Lejeune High School (LHS) Culinary Arts Teacher Jane Varalli has successfully completed all of the requirements necessary to become a Certified Secondary Foodservice Educator (CSFE) through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). LHS is located aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., in the North Carolina District.

Varalli came to the Department of Defense (DoD) Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) last year from Kaiserslautern High School, in Germany, a DoDDS-Europe school. In order to earn the CSFE designation, Varalli completed four years of summer training, passed all exams and worked 400 hours in a restaurant.

The DDESS Culinary Arts program provides high school students with management skills necessary for a career in restaurant and food industry. Instruction includes lecture, demonstrations, restaurant-related projects, food preparation, accounting and cost control and retailing industry. Upon completion of the Restaurant, Food and Beverage Service Pathway, DDESS students are well qualified to either further their studies in an accredited Culinary Arts university or enter the food service industry.

LHS Culinary Arts students won the North Carolina State Championship in the 2008 Carolina ProStart Student Invitational. The team also went on to compete against 33 other schools in the National Competition in San Diego. Since the program’s inception, LHS graduates have amassed $657,000 in scholarships. These students have gone on to attend schools such as Johnson Wales University, the New England Culinary Institute and Baltimore International College.