High School Career and Technical Students Earn Industry Certifications, Cater Regional Tournament

Casey-Westfield School Board Meeting | March 16, 2026

Article Summary: Casey-Westfield High School’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) and Industrial Arts students are translating classroom lessons into real-world professional credentials and community service projects.

Career and Technical Education Key Points:

• All Culinary Arts I students successfully earned their ServSafe Food Handler certifications.

• FCS and Culinary Arts II students managed food preparation for the recent basketball regional hospitality room.

• Child Development students will tour diverse daycare facilities in Terre Haute to observe early childhood education philosophies.

• Industrial Arts and Carpentry students are completing community service builds and custom sale items.

The Casey-Westfield School Board on Monday, March 16, 2026, received updates on the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, highlighting students who are earning industry-standard certifications and providing catering services for large-scale school events.

According to the Junior/Senior High School Building Report, students in the Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) department have been actively applying their skills outside the traditional classroom setting. Notably, all students enrolled in the Culinary Arts I program recently became ServSafe Food Handler certified. The qualification is universally recognized within the food service industry and is often required by employers to ensure safety and hygiene standards.

The culinary students put those safety skills into practice by playing a key role in the success of the recent basketball regional tournament. FCS and Culinary Arts II students managed the food preparation for the event’s hospitality room, gaining practical, real-world experience in large-scale event catering.

In the classroom, Culinary Arts II students have been mastering yeast breads, practicing kneading and rising techniques for cinnamon rolls and pizza dough. Meanwhile, the Baking and Pastry classes have focused on high-end techniques, creating puff pastry dough from scratch for apple turnovers and mastering choux pastry for cream puffs.

The Child Development classes are expanding their curriculum beyond the school campus. After spending hands-on lab time working with young children at Monroe Elementary, the high school students are scheduled to travel to Terre Haute this month. There, they will tour diverse daycare facilities to observe varying philosophies of early childhood care and education.

Students enrolled in the district’s work-study program are also thriving, according to the report. The work-study placements are providing crucial hands-on experience, and students are consistently earning positive evaluations from their professional supervisors.

In the Industrial Arts and Carpentry departments, students recently completed custom picture frame projects. Carpentry students are also actively building items for the school—which earns them community service points—while simultaneously working on custom items intended for sale.