CPC’s High Point Inn Wins Innovations in Special Education Award in Monmouth County

CPC’s High Point Inn was honored as an “Innovations in Special Education Prize Winning Program” by ASAH on May 16 during the Special Education Day celebration at the Midland School. The Innovations in Special Education award recognizes new and different programs that can be duplicated across schools. Presented by the New Jersey School Boards Association and ASAH, the award honors programs that illustrate how a good idea can be shared and adopted by other schools.

History of the Program:
For over 20 years, CPC has offered an educational culinary program. For the program's first three years, it was coordinated by the agency's partial hospitalization program. The High Point School saw the connection between culinary skills and opportunities for employment. This led to the creation of the High Point Inn which was the beginning of a successful prevocational program for high school students ages 12 to 21 for the past 20 years.

The prevocational culinary program was started as a classroom program in 1980 by Wilma Pfeffer. The program was called Lettuce Inn and sold soup and salad to staff and students.  The value of the program for students as preparation for adult life was quickly recognized. When the industrial kitchen was renovated and again usable, the program was transferred to that space and then run by Nick Maragos, who was also the coordinator of the Partial Hospitalization program which occurred after school hours.

In 2006 when our school started to participate in the Federal Child
Nutrition Program, our home economics teacher, Linda Manzo, sought this as an opportunity to integrate many curricula disciplines into one program. At the High Point Inn, students from grades 7-12 work in a restaurant style kitchen. They prepare the entire student lunch menu for the day following Federal Child Nutrition Guidelines. Students are involved in a real life experience allowing time to relate concepts presented in their classroom in reading, math, budgeting and nutrition to everyday living. It also gives students a feeling of community, pride, and insight in working together to produce an outstanding product for everyone in our school population.

Linda has integrated curriculum disciplines in a practical setting that our
population can relate to. For example, students learn math by measuring for recipes, graphing and tallying orders for the school, operating a cash
register, checking in orders, and estimating amounts needed for production.

In addition, health education is discussed at length by following the guidelines of proper eating and safety habits. Social Studies is integrated
by following the Federal guidelines and discussion of the roles government plays in our school systems. Also, Science in implemented by experimenting with different recipes, learning about states of matter and how heat or cold effects what we eat. All of these different facets are integrated together to give our students a real world perspective of the importance of the education they receive in school.

CPC Behavioral Healthcare High Point School is a special education receiving private school. We serve over 150 students from ages 12 to 21. The High Point Inn program is a pre-vocational program that helps determine if students are ready to transition to their home schools or to attend vocational training programs.

Many of the students in this program are able to locate and maintain jobs in the food industry outside of school when they graduate. Linda Manzo is often used as a reference for these students who otherwise would have a difficult time finding employment. Due to the severity of the disabilities of our student population, the High Point Inn program also helps prepare our students for independent living. Ms. Manzo and two teaching assistants, Nancy Smith who has been with the program for five years and Joanna Lenis, monitor the program closely. Students earn a small salary for their participation.

"Our students also learn basic baking principles at the High Point Inn. In addition to preparing the nutritious lunches, they also produce their own
baking products which also meet the nutrition guidelines," explained Manzo.

Why the High Point Inn was Selected:
“While most schools buy their nutritional student lunches from an outside vendor, our students participating in the High Point Inn prepare the lunches as mandated by federal nutritional guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture,” explains Barbara Strickarz, Senior Vice President of Schools & Residences for CPC Behavioral Healthcare. “This innovative initiative by teachers and students earned the High Point Inn this prestigious award.”

The High Point Inn, a prevocational culinary arts program, benefits over 100 students with food service training in preparation, safety and presentation. Each day, students prepare 80 lunches for High Point Adolescent School students according to the guidelines established by the federal Child Nutrition Program (CNP).

According to Home Economics Teacher Linda Manzo, who runs the High Point Inn with two teaching assistants, “Students involved in the High Point Inn learn valuable skills necessary for proper and safe food handling and food preparation. Our students develop an understanding of job requirements, such as working safely, following verbal and written directions, taking responsibilities seriously, and working cooperatively and respectfully with staff and other students.”

As a prevocational program, students gain an understanding of basic cooking principles and become competent with the equipment and safety procedures required at the HPI.  Emphasis is placed on food presentation, culinary vocabulary, cutting techniques, sanitation, recycling, customer relations and menus. Since this course is hands-on, the students are closely supervised to see that tasks are completed within the standard of quality required.  The course uses a developmental approach, and the content is modified to accommodate varied cognitive abilities and learning styles.

Other Innovations in Special Education Awards:

Five years ago, the High Point School received an Innovations in Special
Education Award for its Anger Management Program, developed by Millicent Kellner, Ph.D.

9/4/2008