What a wonderful program! There is definitely a need for programs such as this and may it continue to have the support of the school, school board and the community. Bravo to Chef Kellie for all her hard work. She is an asset to SRVUSD.

I've only heard good things about the Monte Vista High culinary program. It's a shame the student run cafe had to close recently. I heard it was because of a district contract with their food service company that bars the school from offering competing services. Is it a contract renewal, or did the food service company push to enforce the "no compete" because they were losing business to the student run cafe? I don't know, but I heard that the students prefer the cafe food over the school cafeteria. Now the students can't get freshly-made lunches (from wholesome, non-preserved ingredients), the culinary students don't get the necessary experience of prepping, cooking, serving (learning the trade!), and the program doesn't get the income to sustain itself.

i am currently in the advanced culinary class. i have been working in the culinary cafe for this first half of the school year. Chef kelly's program has given me more real life knowledge than i have goten in all of my other classes combined. We just took our final in the class and had to make two soups in 30 minuits. im in a lot of the pictures on this article and as you can see i felt completly confident in what i was doing. chef kelly has not only taught me how to cook but she has also taught me to have confidence in myself and what i am doing. the primary school food service did not in any way make this easy on us. they have made it clear to all of us that they dont like the fact that we are making any money but yet the little money that we make goes directly into the culinary program. the only people profiting off of the cculinary cafe are the students. No one has bothered us for all of the past years that we have been open. it wasnt until just a few months ago that they have brought any attention to the subject. they have made it very clear that they are in buisness for the mooney and not the kids.they are taking over our cafe and will soon be selling their revolting and unhealthy food out of it. everything that we sold was completly based on a healthy diet and all trans fat free. this has been a very sad year for the culinary program...