The Cross Culinary Program

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    The Wilbur Cross Culinary Program is a nationally award winning program. Currently, there are 175 students enrolled in the Culinary program. In the culinary arts, students receive experiences that are necessary to learn the foundation of culinary & management skills, and nothing beats real-life experience gained by working in the industry. The program offers Culinary Arts 1, 2 and 3 as well as Baking & Pastry and dual enrollment credit with Gateway Community College.

    Through hands-on experiences, students improve in 21st-century skills, enhance learning, and increase collaboration, innovation, communication, problem-solving, and creativity. This is illustrated by how students improve each year by winning the state competition and also placing in the top 10 at the national competition.

  • Every year, students participate in the National Restaurant Association's Education Program (ProStart) which are competition teams of restaurant management and culinary arts. The students have entered state-based and national-based competitions for the last 10 years. The teams have won the Connecticut competition 8 times which allows the team to compete at the national level. In 2018, the management team won the title of National Champions and was the first program ever in New England to win.  Our students went on to win Nationals again, this time for Culinary Arts, in 2023. Students involved in the Cross Culinary Program ofent pursue their culinary interests in college or enter the food service industry, including Culinary Institute of Art (CIA), Johnson and Wales University and Gateway Community College.