Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Students can enroll in the 3-term Culinary Assistant Program in any fall, winter or spring term of a school year. HR 107 is for first-term students in the program. 

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Demonstrate basic entry level soft skills in the area of professionalism, social skills, work habits, and workplace behaviors as appropriate in a large scale cafeteria kitchen job setting.
• Apply basic level skills effectively during hands-on training, as they pertain to various jobs within a large-scale cafeteria kitchen (food safety, on-the-job safety, teamwork, communication with staff and customers, and  food preparation and packaging)
• Train and interact efficiently with food service personal to perform one or more jobs in various food production areas.

Students receive 25 hours per week of hands-on training in the PCC food-services cafeteria.  They train with food-service staff in different cafeteria work areas. Program coordinator selects one or more job-training areas out of the following choices:

• Food preparation (hot food, salad, bakery, sandwich, pizza, wraps, bento/Asian food, and sushi).
• Food packaging and labeling (sandwiches, wraps, sushi, and vegetable dishes)
• Serving of food.
• Shipping and receiving, & store-keeping.
• Food, drink, and paper product stocking
• Dish-washing and quality control of equipment and utensils.

Students spend five hours per week in classroom activities around independent living skills, food and work safety, and soft skills necessary for employment.  This course includes role-playing, lectures, videos, small & large group discussions, and hands-on activities.  

Assessment is based on 4 areas:

1. Attendance & punctuality.
2. Work-related skills and habits.
3. Workplace behaviors.
4. Classroom activities and assignments.

Attendance and punctuality that reflect students’ attitude and professionalism are recorded and counted. The student's work-related skills, habits and teamwork, as well as their employability and workplace behaviors are evaluated by the staff trainers, co-workers and the program coordinator. Classroom portion is graded on class participation, assignments, tests and examinations.

Includes all or most of the following:

• Various topics and current issues related to food and work safety will be discussed and analyzed.
• Basic job-related knowledge and training in specific areas in large-scale cafeteria.
• Food and workplace safety according to Oregon food handler information and test, and how they apply to training site.
• Importance of professionalism, positive attitude and work ethics.
• Techniques for work-related communication and working as a team with other staff and students.
• Demonstrate basic professionalism, positive attitude and good work ethics at work-site.