Houston high school students turn food into art

A unique partnership between Rice University Dining Services and Lamar High School is giving students an up-close look at what it takes to run a busy commercial kitchen and teaching them the practices of the culinary industry. Lamar students come to the Rice campus several times a week and work closely with the executive chefs in the serveries. The students get academic credit through the program, get paid for the work they do on campus and when the interns graduate, they will receive a city of Houston Food Service Manager certificate. Not only does the program give students who are considering culinary careers a better understanding of the field, but it also creates a potential entry-level pool of talent for the university. Even more important, this program supports the Vision for the Second Century “to fully engage with the city of Houston — learning from it and contributing to it — as a successful partnership with our home city as an essential part of our future.”