ALLIANCE, OHIO – (November 3, 2023) – Alliance City Schools (ACS) was awarded a $3 million grant to create a new culinary arts career tech education (CTE) program. The official announcement was made this morning during a press conference held by Governor Mike DeWine.
The district applied for the Career Technical Construction grant through the State of Ohio this past spring. Alliance is expected to receive approximately $3 million of the allocated $200 million in the State’s budget for the Career Technical Construction program. The State received over $465 million in grant requests through the application process, which exhibits the desire for new high school career tech programs across Ohio.
The grant will assist in the cost of renovating the former auto body lab at Alliance High School (AHS) into a commercial kitchen, classroom setting and restaurant and assist with the cost of getting the new culinary arts two-year career tech program up and running. The program is anticipated to be available for the 2025-26 school year, meaning current freshmen should have the opportunity to join the program for the latter part of their high school careers.
“This year at Alliance City Schools, we have a renewed commitment to our vision of preparing all Aviators for life, college and careers,” said Rob Gress, superintendent of schools. “The addition of the new culinary arts program will help us to achieve our goal and provide our students with another career path, one that hasn’t been offered in the past. I am thrilled for this new opportunity and for the chance to see our students excel in the culinary arts field and benefit the local workforce they will soon enter.”
The goal of the program is to teach students interested in culinary arts the technical skills necessary to earn industry recognized credentials. Students will spend time learning about food safety, cooking techniques, restaurant management, hospitality and more. The program will include a restaurant that will be open to the public during select school days. This will provide the students with work-based learning experiences that will directly prepare them for the local workforce.
“I am so excited for Alliance and the Stark County area for this grant to help fund the new culinary arts program at Alliance City Schools. Congratulations to Rob Gress and his team for this exciting news,” said Rick Baxter, president of Alliance Area Development and Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce. “The Stark County area has seen some significant growth in the restaurant industry and there will be more to come with all that is happening here in Alliance and at the Hall of Fame Village. I’m looking forward to this program helping our local students take advantage of all the job opportunities being created in Stark County.”
The Alliance Career Tech Planning District (CTPD) comprises a variety of two-year workforce development programs taught at Alliance, Marlington and Salem High Schools. All programs in the CTPD are open to students at any of the three high schools during their junior and senior years. The addition of the culinary arts program will bring the total to 16 available programs between the schools with ten programs housed at AHS.
“The ability to design, build and open this state-of-the-art culinary arts program would not be possible without this funding from the State, spearheaded by the Governor’s office and supported by our legislators, local officials and the ACS Board of Education. We would also like to thank Marlington Local Schools for their assistance with the application process,” said Beth Hirschman, director of career programs at ACS. “We are most excited about the opportunity for students to develop their passions and attain technical skills and industry recognized credentials through this new CTE program at AHS. It will allow students to explore the culinary arts and all that it offers. The graduates produced from this program will be able to supply our local communities with employees ready to directly enter the workforce.”
For more information about Alliance City Schools or the Alliance Career Tech Planning District, visit www.alliancecityschools.org.