Ulster BOCES Transitional Occupation Program (TOP) students Gabriel Golnek-Sagazie, from the Kingston City School District; Jonaah-Violet Super, from the Highland Central School District; and Nicolas Galewaler and Shea Malenski, both from the Rondout Valley Central School District, all recently received their ServSafe Food Handler Training Certifications.

While preparing for the test, students learned basic food safety concepts and how to protect against food-borne illness outbreaks. Teacher Linda Carter says the knowledge needed to pass the exam is good to know for a number of reasons. “In addition to being better qualified to work with food, being a safer cook is something the students and their families can benefit from,” Carter says proudly.

ServSafe is America’s most recognized food safety training program, and is designed to provide training and certification for anyone who handles food for public consumption. The TOP program is a foundational career and technical transition program that is designed to maximize the time students spend performing actual hands-on work in jobs, trade areas, and field locations. This experience helps students build pro-technical and employability skills in order to enhance the transition to more advanced technical training or to successfully gain entry-level employment.