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Mouthwatering smells hit you first as you enter the Foss High School culinary area. Students dressed in black chef coats busily work at different stations.   

In the front of the kitchen classroom, students perfect a braised short rib dish for an upcoming culinary competition. In the back, students combine chocolate and mint to create a delicious candy, while others buzz around conducting routine cleaning. In the adjoining classroom, students discuss meal plans for a catering job.  

The Foss culinary program is working to not only teach cooking skills but provide students with a pathway to a career. Last year, Foss’ Culinary Club obtained a business license for catering. Seniors Laloni Lester and Allie Berry are members of the club and have completed several catering jobs over the last year. 

“We’ve done more than I could have imagined. I have learned so much about business,” Lester said. “I like baking, but I think I actually like the catering industry part more than being in the kitchen.” 

For Berry, culinary classes and the club help keep her in school and have opened her eyes to possibilities after high school. 

“The culinary club is a motivator for me to stay in school,” Berry said. “If I don’t come to school, I can’t go to the club. I am thinking of continuing my education at Bates and focusing on baking.” 

Foss’ professional kitchen was built in 2021 thanks to voter-approved bond funding, and it has been a key element in growing the culinary program at the school. 

“This new kitchen has been life changing,” said Foss Culinary Teacher Erick Swenson. “You can talk about industry standards, but you don’t really learn how to use a piece of equipment until you have a chance to use it in real life.” 

Exploration, career connections key to success after high school 

There are two important ingredients for preparing students for life after high school: student exploration and connections to career pathways.  

Culinary is just one of many career pathways Tacoma Public Schools students can explore. TPS offers hundreds of Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses, with urgency around the development of CTE graduation pathways that springboard students into post-diploma work and learning experiences.   

“Exploration is foundational to student success,” explained Adam Kulaas, Director of Innovative Learning and CTE. “It’s inspiring to watch students discover new things. Exposure to career pathways is something we want to infuse into kindergarten through twelfth grade.” 

Kulaas is quick to point out that program offerings also need to be strategic to ensure when students do find an area of interest there is a path to continued education and a career. The CTE team is on a mission to maximize offerings across all schools, expanding in areas where there are gaps in programming. 

Career pathways currently offered across the school district are:  

1. Construction 

2. Manufacturing 

3. Hospitality 

4. Healthcare 

5. Business 

6. Natural Resources 

7. Education 

8. Information Technology 

9. Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) 

10. Automotive 

11. JROTC 

That list is expected to grow starting in the next school year.  

Getting a head start on careers 

Connecting students to career pathways requires more than just offering the right classes. TPS helps students get the head start they need for their career by offering opportunities for earning dual college credit, industry recognized credentials (IRC) and certificates, and paid work experiences.   

“Our students are engaged in a wide range of high-quality experiences that accelerate - at no cost - their continued achievement beyond graduation,” said Kulaas.  

A driving force behind each element is partnerships. Giving students ‘real-world’ experience means partnering with businesses and the community. TPS is working to develop professional pipelines and strengthen partnerships with business and local colleges and universities.  

Dual credits 

Across the school district, CTE courses at the high school level are aligned with dual credit requirements for the State of Washington. With a dual credit, students earn high school and college credit at the same time. In the 2022-2023 school year, TPS students earned more than 22,000 dual college credits.  

“I tell students to take advantage of dual credits before they have to pay for culinary school,” Swenson said. 

Industry recognized credentials and certificates 

Course offerings and summer programs give students the ability to earn IRCs and certificates, making them more competitive for employment and post-secondary education.  

Students can earn credentials and certificates in a wide range of areas, including automotive, computer science, culinary, design, drones, finance, healthcare, skilled trades and more. TPS students earned more than 5,000 in the last school year, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. 

Paid work experiences 

Through the year-round Jobs 253 program, students can gain paid work experience while earning school credit for high school graduation. Last year, over 1,000 students participated in paid experiences with around 40 organizations in the region. There are also opportunities through worksite learning. 

Professional pipeline 

CTE course offerings, dual credits, credentials and certificates, and paid work experiences all align with the development of professional pipelines across multiple industry sectors. Going beyond graduation to create a bridge for students to their next phase of work and learning. 

Investing in equipment and infrastructure 

To prepare students for careers, TPS has made significant investments into equipment and infrastructure, bringing hands-on learning opportunities to students across the district.  

In addition to the newly built Foss kitchen, bond funding has also supported new kitchens at Silas High School and Hunt Middle School. Middle and high schools across the district have broadcast studios where students learn about video and audio production. Healthcare Careers Academy students have access to professional equipment. Students use industry-standard programs and technology, including 3D printers, robotics, design and engineering programs. In high school, students have access to skilled trades, like Core+ construction trades, manufacturing, and aeronautics.  

TPS continues to expand programming aligned to the future of work. For over a decade, TPS has offered maritime-related courses. Thanks to a partnership with the Port of Tacoma, TPS is working to open a state-of-the-art maritime skills center serving students across Pierce County.  

“When kids leave TPS we want them ready to take on the world,” said Kulaas. “And we’re just getting started. We have an urgency to innovate and a commitment to keep doing better.”