TRANSCRIPTION OF MY INTERVIEW WITH HEIDE RIPPERT

Mark: Okay, good morning ma’am!

Heide: Okay, ahh…

Mark: Tell me about yourself ma’am.

Heide: I am Heide Rippert, ahh I teach at Manhattan High School. Ahm I teach at actually both
locations, three hundred nine, point seventy and twenty one hundred point seventy. Those… the
freshman building ahm which is our ninth grade center and ahm an then in the building that is
ahm ten, three, twelve. Ahm, it’s a comprehensive high school. Ahm our curriculum that we use
ahm for all ahm ninth grade class is ahm called interculinary arts, it is a book put out by Pearson
written by the Culinary Arts Institute.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Our curriculum that we use for our baking classes is on baking. Ahm it’s also put out by
Pearson. Ahm, and then a book ahm that we use, ahm materials we use for our events Culinary
Arts I class is ahm a book that is was put out by Pearson that is now put out by the National
Restaurant Association and it has two levels and it is written for the pro start program which is
ahm run by the Kansas and the National ahm Hotel Restaurant Association.

Mark: So… so… how… how old are you ma’am?

Heide: Ahm… thirty-nine?

Mark: Thirty-nine. Ahh, how long have you been teaching ma’am?

Heide: Ahm, I have been teaching in Family Consumer Science in High School for the past six
years.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm, and then before that, my background is a rendy fisheries in food areas at Wallmart
extensively for the free years that gives me the background of teacher.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide; Yeah.

Mark: Okay. So, ahh you’ve been working at Wallmart for how many years ma’am?
Heide: I worked at Wallmart for a total of fifteen.

Mark: Fifteen and all your expertise exist in the food section?

Heide: Not completely at the food section but at least probably five of those fifteen years in the
food service area.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: Okay ma’am. Thank you. So we are going to start the… the ahh preliminary interview
ma’am all about this one. So, discuss to me ma’am the school food safety that you have in your
classroom?

Heide: It is…

Mark: I mean in… in… in the Manhattan High School.

Heide: Okay. So in our classrooms on our food labs, ahm we have hand washing sinks that has
signage that reminds the students of the proper procedures of hand washing ahm as they learned
in the ahm serve safe curriculum. Ahm, and then we also have ahm in our lodge, we have a three
compartment sinks that has ahm you know proper set up with ahm flash availability and wash
rooms and sanitation tiles set up, so they can do proper ahm cleaning and sanitizing of both
service, any food services that we might use. Those are the main things that we have ahm that are
interventions. Ahm, and then we also when any students might have a cut or scrape, we have the
ahm bandages and gloves available. Ahm if they are handling ready to eat food, ahm bare handed
we encourage them to use gloves or a tool ahm utensil, what would that be, you know spoon or
thongs or whatever ans so they’re not having bare hand contact with foods that are ready to eat.

Mark: Yes ma’am, So that would be all ma’am, the food safety intervention you know?

Heide: Hmhmm.

Mark: Ahm the next one ma’am is describe to me or ahh the hand washing sink it is ahh
complete I mean like we have to… portable water, the lavatory, the tissue…

Heide: Hmhmm. Yeah, we have…

Mark: So…

Heide: It’s already mounted on the wall above the sink.

Mark: Ahah.
Heide: We have ahm the… the soap on a dispenser, and then the single-use paper towels, ahm
are available there with trash can that we have there.

Mark: You put instruction in there?

Heide: Yeah. I usually… on… on our hand washing sink in our big lab you know there’s a… a
signage there that reminds them of the proper hand washing.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Yes, yes.

Mark: And these three compartment ma’am is ahh situated also in…

Heide: Right. In the back. Not every kitchen has that because ahm it’s quite ahh space wise ahm
too much to have that available at every station but ahm our smaller kitchens can get their
sanitizer bucket fields…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm back there and then go up. We also have aprons ahm the students are also ahm
required to wear their ahm proper chef attires with their hats.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: So hats, ahm aprons and then we usually encourage them on lab days to have close toed
shoes as well.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And that can be part of their evaluation.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: That if they don’t come with you know, close toed shoes. We don’t require all of our
students to have the chef non sweatshirts…

Mark: Yes.

Heide: … but we do… they do have to when we go to competition…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … ah, coz that’s part of their requirement. We do provide them with aprons and then the
hats…
Mark: Okay ma’am.

Heide: … ahm that keeps hair and stuff out of the food.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: So how about the bandages and gloves ma’am? Are they free of use?

Heide: They’re what?

Mark: Are they free of use?

Heide: Ah yeah, yeah coz they’re already… you know they’re one after they use, they’re thrown
away.

Mark: How about this aprons ma’am, do they bring or you have aprons over the storage?

Heide: We have aprons for them that they are always stored, same with hats.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: But they have their own hat we keep them ahm and sealed by Ziploc baggies...

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: So we don’t wash them every time they use it because that would be a lot of washing but
we wash them ahh you know every few months or every… especially when we change students
because we own the hats…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … and provide the hats for the students. So if I change it from one student to the next
from semester the hats are numbered and so I just give that sign, that number to a new student
ahm but I put it in a new baggy…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … and I wash it before you know in a new baggy. So that encourages that as well.

Mark: Ah okay. So who do the washing ma’am, is it you or the students?

Heide: Ahm well, it’s a combination. We do have some student aides some of our classes and
they help us keep up with the laundry. We have laundry facilities in each storage area…
Mark: Okay.

Heide: Ahm in a room, so they keep up… they help us keep up the laundry but ultimately, as a
teacher it’s our responsibility to the laundry.

Mark: Yes ma’am.

Heide: (Laugh a bit.)

Mark: So ahh, discuss to me ma’am or describe the best practices of school in terms of food
safety.

Heide: I think the best practices in out culinary program is we start our class each semester with
ahm reminders of food safety or in our very first class we talk and they have to pass ahm a serve
safe… a food safety food handler task.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And they have to pass within 85% or above.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: So it’s not like they’re only allowed to pass it with 50. So direct instruction, teaching it,
and then expecting it. So hmm ahm you know for the kids to come in the lab, they have hat and
apron on…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: You know everyday close toed shoes and hand washing…

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm its expected before they come in to the lab, and then during our first lab ahm we
encourage our students to call each other out and say “hey, you just touch your hair, wash your
hands” you know so ahm they help each other and then they become more aware that “Hey I
touch my body a lot and I’m washing my hands a lot.” Ahm so then they can recognize it
themselves.

Mark: So would that helps ma’am?

Heide: Yeah, it helps a lot.

Mark: So, if somebody sees ah someone touching their hair then they can immediately scold
them?
Heide: Well they just say you know before you know “Can you wash your hands?” So it’s just a
reminder…

Mark: Okay.

Heide: … because I can’t watch 25 kids…

Mark: Ah okay.

Heide: … ahh and see all the things that they do that will considered for hygiene. Ahm so they’re
encouraged to you know remind each other.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Ahm, for say “Hey, you know, you wash your hands before you go back working on
foods because you just touch your face.”

Mark: So begi…

Heide: You know so, initially, it’s very important that in their first few labs every semester that
they’re encourage to do that.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm so them later in this semester, the students just knows that “ Hey…

Mark: So they’re aware.

Heide: Yeah. So that the… if they’re not used to doing it, if you don’t create awareness…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … they’re not gonna know it.

Mark: Yeah. Perfect. So what else? What practice that you do?

Heide: Ahm the other best practices be… beside ahm the implementation of making sure that
they have proper ahm attire, hat and ahm apron, ahm self-worth, ahm issues, signage and
routines. Ahm making sure that your students know that ahm the dishes get where they go, where
they get put away, ahm your own expectations. And then we also have an evaluation, ahm where
to end their do ways of self-evaluation of themselves and then we always… we also sometimes
do an evaluation of food safety during labs…

Mark: Hmhmm.
Heide: … you know paying attentions. We also check the kitchen usually before they leave…

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm from the hour so that they have to check out with us to make sure that…

Mark: Everything…

Heidi: … surfaces are…surfaces are clean and so forth. Yeah.

Mark: Hmhmm. So what else?

Heide: The other practices I would say that we haven’t talk about would be like ahm in our
refrigeration units, making sure that things are stored properly. So checkin you know meats
always lower in the fridge, stored at the bottom our vegetables, stuff that are ready to eat you
know higher in the fridge which is also taught in our curriculum.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm so therefore, we practice what we’re you know tellin’ our students, ahm things that
are prepared and you know not roll like you know wrappers and vegetables don’t need to have a
use day by day on them. Ahm things in their original package that already use by date on them.
So the things that are prepared in a container, we try to label it…

Mark: Okay.

Heide: … ahm with what it is and when it needs to be use by so that we don’t end up with
mouldy items in our fridge.

Mark: Yeeah.

Heide: Ahm things that are fast on expiration date. So try to model that to our students, ahm to
what should they be doing in food safety, so we do that as well. And you know we have dry
storage areas for food…

Mark: Hmmm.

Heide: … separate ahm for cleaning supplies and chemicals there. You know not together and
that’s another thing that you know you model.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: They… they recognize and they… they realize without you certainly explaining it. They
see it ahm but it is covered in the curriculum that when they see it they reinforces it.
Mark: Ahah. So they do practice after you reinforcing it.

Heide: Ahah.

Mark: All throughout the semester?

Mark: Hmhmm. Yeah, yeah. So what else ma’am?

Heide: ahm on be… best practices ah I think havin’ you know a good solid ahm nationally
recognize curriculums ahm information from serve safe and therefore, it is definitely a best
practice that we like to use ahm not using just you know whatever that find in the internet.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: But I actually using ahm materials ahm from somebody national culinary schools such as
the sha… the… the Culinary Institute of America.

Mark: hmhmm.

Heide: You know they have three schools, they have awesome recognized chefs, and so we use
their curriculum rather than just pulling whatever I want to from who knows where, from the
internet yeah.

Mark: So what do you mean good solid national curriculum ma’am?

Heide: So, it has a you know it’s put out by a publisher where it’s written by chefs. It’s not just
ahm you know written by known chefs ahm at post secondary institutes for example. So they’ve
written the program ahm the National Restaurant Association who’s put their stamp for approval
on it.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm so it’s recognized by them, it’s not just something I’m pulling out in the internet that
who knows who wrote.

Mark: Yeah.

Heide: Ahh an they’re… they’re based on define the food handler. I have a manager to ask
specific questions. So what is the food handler need to know for time and temperature control,
ahm good personal hygiene, cross-contamination, cleaning and sanitizing versus the manager
needs to know ahm product receiving and ahh how to set up storage in your restaurant, ahm how
to train your employees, all of that. So it’s a… it’s a big higher level and more ahm areas coz
food handlers, how can a person contaminate or how can a person ahm… yeah how can a person
ahh… cause pathogens to be at the non safe level of food.
Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Where ahm the other is… the whole establishment.

Mark: Hmhmm. Yes ma’am.

Heide: (Laugh a bit.)

Mark: So what… what other activities that you have ma’am?

Heide: So within that ahm we do things that… that show our students ahm why these things are
important, so we do an activity call it glow germ.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: An activity where they put the glowing lotion on their hands and then they watch them
using the proper techniques of contact to them…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … and then ahm they see you know where they have maybe missed so that again another
awareness thing, ahm awareness of… of what to handle on. Ahm we also do, teach them to
calibrate a thermometers…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … because if they don’t know how to calibrate them, how can they know if it’s working
properly.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: So we do teach ahm calibration of thermometers. Ahh I’ll try to think other activities we
do within there. Ahm I do ahm another fun activity, it’s call them what is the white substance
and so I have six bags labelled one, three, six that have different ahm items ah food items in
there that are white substances, so salt, sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, powdered
sugar, are in the bags. And the kids have to try and identify which one is which.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm so it shows them that if you don’t label it, you may use the wrong product.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm so fort because you can’t tell the difference sometimes by… by visual of what’s
white.
Mark: So you do also some games ma’am.

Heide: Yeah, yeah. We do some of those things to… to make it more hands on and ahh visual
farce things to whether than to just read the book. Ahm I teach it basically in three ways because
I teach it hands on, I teach it through videos, because we have videos that go along the book, and
then we also use the book, the questions in the book I discussion.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: So therefore, they can read it, they can hear it, they see it, handle it, touch it, feel it. So
you’re reaching all your different types of learners.

Mark: Okay, cool. Ahm do you have another food safety activities ma’am that can share?

Heide: Not… not really on food safety other than just reinforcing it then we have lab. Yeah.

Mark: Okay ma’am. So tell me about the evaluation procedures that you use ma’am.

Heide: Ahm I lab, ahh we have an evaluate, each lab by use about a thirty points scale and the
kids actually have to answer self evaluation questions.

Mark: Ma’am is this thirty point evaluation scale ma’am, is it a multiple choice or?

Heide: Ahm no. During lab they get some point automatically just for being there and
participating and doin’ the lab.

Mark: So if… continue.

Heide: and the other point comes from my evaluation from them and their self evaluation and
they have to answer a questionnaire where they have to either write one or two sentences
describing what they did in the lab after write down some food safety concerns that lab. So for
working with ahm dairy products that might need to be refrigerated or eggs or different pro-
meats that they properly handle those if it working with raw food, read to eat foods such as we’re
cutting a poultry but we’re cutting ahh vegetables, ahm that they can tell me on that evaluation
that they need to use separate surfaces, different cutting boards, work with each.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: So they kind a do self evaluation and also identify ahm moments in the lab that could be
of concern or problematic for them if they don’t pay attention.

Mark: Okay. So for clarification ma’am, this thirty point scale is you’re the one using it?

Heide: Yup.
Mark: And you’re going to deduct points if in case they’re not doing well or…

Heide: Rigth. Or they can explain what the food safety concern was today or they ahm choose
not to wear their hat or apron or…

Mark: So there is certain deduction for example for not wearing a hat minus one…

Heide: Ahah, ahah.

Mark: … touching your face during the lab… laboratory minus one…

Heide: Hmhmm.

Mark: Ah okay.

Heide: Things like that. But it’s a total of thirty I kind a keep standard there but they can lose
points…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … because of something they do in the labs. I wouldn’t deduct points for like touching
their face as long as their like cognising of it. You know we have that edge and we gotta take
care of it. But then did I wash my hands?

Mark: Okay.

Heide: (Laugh.) you know.

Mark: So in case… if in case they touch their face and they didn’t… their hands…

Heide: If you know, it depends on how far we are into this semester.

Mark: okay.

Heide: If I can remind at the beginning, it’s all about reminders and really I want them to be able
to go out in the workplace or at home and do things safely and properly.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: So, making sure I remind them. I think sometimes in lab, for example I had students that
ahm in the lab ah forgot to put the baking soda ahm in their corn bread muffins…

Mark: Hmhmm.
Heide: … so they had short bents hacky packs, that’s our leavening agent and without that little
teaspoon of that, nothing work.

Mark: Yeah.

Heide: Well, I think those students probably learned more that day by failure.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And they wouldn’t learn if they had success.

Mark: Yeah.

Heide: Because now, they never probably forget that in baked goods, we need some kind of
leavening agent or we’re going to have short dainty packs. If that’s your goal, then good.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm you know but if that’s not your goal, you need to make sure that you’re accurate in
that. So sometimes you know make sure that I… don’t fail them in the lab…

Mark: Ah okay.

Heide: … because that kid learned more than the kid who had success.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Is that make sense?

Mark: Yes.

Heide: I might take a point off for… for… you know not using proper ingredients or…

Mark: Ah okay.

Heide: … you know stuff like that but I’m not going to be like “Okay you only get ten points of
your thirty today because you fail that making this corn bread muffins.”

Mark: Yes ma’am.

Heide: Because again, they learned more that the kid who had success.

Mark: Okay. So, what… what other evaluation procedures that you have ma’am?

Heide: Ahm I don’t know that we really use…

Mark: Exams?

Heide: No we have. We do. Ahm so for specifically in food safety they have the ahm serve safe
ahm food handler exam and then they have the serve safe manager exam depending on what
level of class they have.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And then ahm at the beginning of their baking classes, ahh we do a retake. Ahm it’s not
necessarily for a grade but it’s for us to see what they remember…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … from their previous class. Coz they have to take culinary essentials before they can
take Baking I or Baking II. So, you know the Baking I, instead of re-teaching every single thing
coz from food safety, from culinary essentials, we just usually give that test…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … again for the question test and see what ahm most are missed. And then review that, so
it’s kind of a… a assessment that guide our teaching.

Mark: Okay ma’am. So, is baking different from culinary arts?

Heide: Yes.

Mark: Like for example, if you’re taking Baking you have to do… we have take culinary arts…
culinary arts essentials first and if you’re going to take culinary, you have… you also have to
take culinary essentials. So both of them, in the baking, in the culinary arts I and II, culinary
essentials is their pre-requisite?

Heide: Right. So culinary essentials is a semester, and so culinary essentials we teach food
safety, knife skills, equipment, ahh proper ahh time management working in the… in the ahm…

Mark: The lab,

Heide: … the lab, and we also you know teach the basics of culinary. And there might be a
couple labs that relate to baking.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: But then we have whole classes, we have a whole semester ahm baking I and then the
whole semester Baking II. Ahm and you have to take culinary essentials and baking I and then
you could take… you don’t have to take Baking II if that’s not your thing. Ahm before you can
take Culinary Arts I which is Culinary Arts I is a four-year, and if they complete culinary arts I
as a junior they can a culinary application as a senior. And usually in Culinary Applications, ahm
they’re out in an internship with a business with a restaurant in town.

Mark: Hmhmm. Okay.

Heide: Okay.

Mark: So Culinary Arts II is a OJT or?

Heide: Culinary Applications…

Mark: Okay.

Heide: … is kind of a OJT. Yeah.

Mark: So what grade is that ma’am, grade 12?

Heide: Ahh seniors.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Yeah. Our… our seniors twelfth graders.

Mark: Are you also using essay on them ma’am or just a multiple choice test?

Heide: Ahm well on our serve safe because we use standardized test that are written by national
association, those are multiple choice test.

Mark: So mostly the things you use to evaluate your students are probably ahh a national serve…
serve safe ahh…

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: … ahh standardized test?

Heide: Yeah. The only time we were using essay is you know if we did a unit test, we would
throw on food safetier, knife safetier, things like that and then might be a short answer essay ahm
on there but ahm the main things we use really to food safety is specifically is serve safe, yeah.

Mark: You’re not… you’re not ahh using, I mean teacher made test ma’am? You’re not doing it?

Heide: No.

Mark: Okay. So mostly are standardized.

Heide: We use standardized test.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Because we want that certi… we want to give our students that certificate and I can give
that certificate with the test I made. I need to use that one that they made.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Ahm, so yeah we can’t give them the certificate without that. Ahm we also use in our
advance classes a program call of per session exams and…

Mark: What? Position?

Heide: Per session exams…

Mark: Per session.

Heide: … and they have lots of current technical education ahm exams and again they get
certificate if they met the standards and it’s again a multiple choice type, matching type test that
they do online…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm, and we give the culinary management I and we give the food service culinary arts I
ahm to our advanced class our culinary arts I class.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: And then they get certificates on those but again in order to give them the certificates,
they have to pass that test. (Laugh a bit.)

Mark: And ahh, tell me ma’am about who audits the… the water system, the fire system.

Hedie: Yeah. Ahm all of our stuff is contracted the way the same with the rest of our school
district. So, all of our fire hoods, and fire extinguishers in a whole building including our
culinary rooms are inspected ahm yearly. Ahh they check monthly to make sure they’re working
order by our custodians on staff. But yearly they’re tracked by the fire ahm a fire company that
provides and then installs the system. Nope. This is the company that… that would install the fire
extinguishers…

Mark: Ahah.
Heide: … and install hoods. They in… inspect our systems. Ahm fire department does come
through and check for the code. So example they do look, they do check our culinary ahm lab
and one of the things that they notice recently was that our vent hood ahm the baffles on it we’re
wrack and right, so we ahm did fix that and it was an easy fix on the spot.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Grab the ladder and turn the right way. Ahm so the fire department does check those
kinds of things. Ahm we do not, coz we do not sell our food. Ahm we do not have to be
inspected by the health department or the USTA while a restaurant hood. Ahm if we did run a
restaurant, we would have to ahm ad also be inspected by them but we don’t actually.

Mark: Okay. So, how about the water ma’am?

Heide: Ahh water, we don’t have our wa… the city just take care of our water. The city water
department takes care of our water because we are in the city water, the city is inspecting our
water you know basically daily. They’re not coming to inspect it here…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … but they are inspecting it in the plant, the water treatment plant.

Mark: Yes ma’am. You also have in contact with the food safety ahh agent here?

Heide: Ahh…

Mark: Extension?

Heide: Ahh…Yes. I talkin’ the… the research and extension.

Mark: Ahh.

Heide: For the health department, yeah.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm… I you know I have contact with them as in sometimes use them to take courses or
ahm we can invite them up ahh… to you know talk to our students.

Mark: Discuss about the topic…

Heide: So I have use them before to ahh help teach the serve safe ahm but I have become a
certified instructor in serve safe so I don’t use them as much as to help with instructing in serve
safe. But in my first couple of years, yeah I utilize them to teach the serve safe…
Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm but sometimes, when I need to train myself and I’ve become certified, I do the
instruction myself now.

Mark: Okay. So what resources do you have ma’am?

Heide: Ahh… resources…

Mark: Instructional materials ma’am.

Heide: Intructional materials, oh gosh! Ahm most of I’ve already discussed with the curriculum,
ahm other teaching resources would be things that I have gained ahm from workshops but other
teachers ahm activities. Not really their curriculum, those activities that’s already written, that
sometimes we share.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: I’ve written this, you’ve written this activity. So the reinforcement activities like you
know what’s in the white bag, I got that idea from someone else. I didn’t necessarily create that
idea myself. Ahm the glow germ activity I did, ahm I got the paper with all the questions I do
from another teacher…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: So by going to different workshops throughout the year with other career acad teachers,
ahh we share resources and so I may able to get resources with them and internalize resources
with them.

Mark: So utilize your resources ma’am just within Manhattan?

Heide: Oh no!

Mark: within…

Heide: Within all over the state.

Mark: Ah okay.

Heide: I f we have conferences ahh… for example there’s a conference ahh in the July, August
for this in Manhattan, well all of the people I the state drive in for a two, three-day conference
ahm and it’s the Kansas Association, the career and technical education. So it’s not just a Family
Consumer Science teachers, it’s also ag. education teachers, ahm it’s also industrial arts teachers,
business teachers, so it’s all the technical education teachers.
Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm and not all of them come but a lot of the one who are good in their classroom…

Mark: Hmm, so…

Heide: … come.

Mark: You go to the… you go to…

Heide: Huh?

Mark: You go to the conference ma’am because…

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: Wha.. whats…

Heide: Because I can network with them and get resources from them and they get resources
from me, ahm email me and send in the FB of this or what do you about this…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: Ahm and so I did the same with them.

Mark: Okay. And let me go back ma’am, ahh this one, can you describe the curriculum that you
have here ma’am? About the culina… you’re… you’re teaching culinary and arts ma’am right?

Heide: Ahah.

Mark: Can you describe the curriculum? Wha… what do you mean in curriculum in here
ma’am? Is it a book or just a guide?

Heide: Yeah. Yeah. We have textbooks…

Mark: So…

Heide: Ahm the textbooks have additional resources, some of them come with a PowerPoint’s,
some of them come with question or rating banks, so we can actually generate our test from
questions that the publisher is written or ahh the authors is written. That way it’s written in the
same verbiage that book written it…

Mark: Hmm.
Heide: … because of a teacher writes the test, they may write use different verbiage than the
textbook ahm so we do have options of using the questions or writers to write our test that we
give…

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm it is written by us essentially coz we pick what item to use or don’t want to use.

Mark: So it’s your choice?

Heide: Yeah. And then ahh… our culinary, our introduction, the culinary essentials and we do it
for baking I, some. Ahm also has a book of recipes and there are standard recipes that the chefs
have developed and written.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm, those are you know kind of those resources that we have, that we use.

Mark: Okay ma’am. So, tell me about your standards here ma’am.

Heide: Ahh all of our standards actually can be found in the ahh Kansas State Department of
Education website, and we follow the state standards. Those state standards are actually ahm in
Family Consumer Sciences which our culinary classes are based of. We use the national ahm
NASA Fax standards to write our state standards plus we incorporate what’s going on in our
state. So our standards are written by some of the top teachers and our state.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: We get together in like whole day workshops and re-work those. Oh, probably about
every 4-5 years, we will re-look…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … at every single path where we have, so the restaurant on management pathway will be
one of those. So about three years ago, I was a part of that and we sat down and look through
what was there, what needed change…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … made those changes and then recent out to the state. So the standards that I meet in the
class ahm are directly from what the state expects.

Mark: Okay, so you follow the state and you did not… I mean if in case “Oh this is not for my
students, can I make my own?” You do not make your own?
Heide: My own standards? Ahm I… I might write standards that lead to the standards, so I mght
have an objectives ahm that meet the standards but essentially I need to award my students
completed this class.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: Ahm and so, if my students is to move to another school , and I need to completed
culinary essentials…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … the… their new teachers expect that they met all of the standards.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: And so, for me to write my own standards, different from what the states write in, is not a
good thing for our students coz I need to make sure that if they are following this class that they
have met the standards. So in Kansas, we really have a nice, good, strong set of standards ahm
where you know the same is English…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: You know English 10 has to meet the standards…

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: ahm and if they go…

Mark: Same is through…

Heide: … anywhere in the state they should have met those standards.

Mark: Hmhmm. So, the standards of the state ma’am met the standards in serve safe or the
national hotel and restaurant?

Heide: They’re included in the standard. Yeah coz there’s food safety in sanitation. Yes.

Mark: Ahh.

Heide: The food safety and sanitation standards…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … ahm within those com… our standards we have benchmarks ahm and then we ahm call
them competencies.
Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: So, the things we want the students to be competent at the end of the semester.

Mark: Okay. So those are ahh learned by the students all those competencies.

Heide: Ahah. Yep!

Mark: So, tell me ma’am what is the importance of food safety education, or how important is
food safety education to you?

Heide: To the students?

Mark: To the students.

Heide: Ahm I have had students ahm that ahh have come back to me and said “I lost my food
safety certificate, can you rewrite it for me or give me a new one?” Ahm I go back to the
computer, find out if they took it because it’s good for three years…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … and rewrite that because some of them will get a dollar on our ways after a job.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: For knowing that ahm food safety, food handler standards are ready.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: So it’s pretty important, I have one student who is ready to… I leave my classroom and
do some other things you know take it easy and then he was talking to his manager work and
realize that his manager work makes pretty decent money…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … without having gone to college and he felt that like our class, if he got the certificates
that we offer could provide him the foundation he needs to maybe progress with experience
through ahm national food chain as a manager and make good money without spending money
on college coz he doesn’t feel like he has the money to go to college.

Mark: Yeah.

Heide: So yeah, it provides ahm you know the food safety education as well as our you know our
whole class provides them a good foundation that they could have a quality life…
Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … and make a you know decent living ahm but they have to know that usually they’re not
going to do that bein’ you know ahm the… line cook in a fast-food restaurant.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: They’re going to pro… progress to the level of management…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … in a fast-food restaurant or management in ahm one of those other restaurant or the
executive chef or something that in the higher level. So it gives someone good entry level
foundation.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm so that’s why I think it’s important to my students, but also ahh taking care of their
own home. So we have some students that take our classes that are not going to go into food
service industry, but they take our classes so they can provide for their family a decent meal
without burning down their house and ahm you know, without making their family sick.

Mark: Hmhmm. Yes.

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: Ahh, so how important is food safety education to you ma’am as a teacher?

Heide: For me as a teacher, I see the value in what I am teaching ahm I see that I am able to ahm
change another students life ahm and make their life healthier…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … ahh… and make them aware of what they should be doing in their kitchen at home…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … as well as to give them the skills ahh that they can go out to the work force. Ahm I
have a student who completes our program who is now the kitchen manager ahm at college of
Ellis…

Mark: Hmm.

Heide: … and she’s straight out of high school last year.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And so, could she do that, could she move into higher management even without that
restaurant chain or other, she has the experience, she can without know… without any further
college.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Ahm but she probably is one who is probably in work to save some money for a few
years and then attend the culinary college or something on that sort.

Mark: Okay.

Heide: So, yeah, it’s pretty important. It’s giving them the foundation to have a… to have a life.

Mark: Okay. So, next one ma’am is how often do you give seminars or yeah training for food
safety education to your students?

Heide: Ahm, so for other teachers, ahm around the state I have ahh been there as a serve safe
instructor and I’ve help them through a self study or guided them through a self study program to
where they can successfully take the food se… serve ahh the serve safe management exam and
pass it. Ahm so I’ve done that a couple of times with some teachers and then also… usually I go
to conferences, so I go to United Conference, the KCTE, the ACTE which is national I go to
every other year but UKCKCTE, I go to those like every year so two to three years I met some
kind of conference. And then we did a summer ahm summit last summer, this past summer
July…

Mark: Hmm.

Heide: … and then ahm two of the five-day training was dedicated to culinary. And so, we we’re
in the kitchen of this school in Kansas, ahm working on our own knife skills, our own ahm how
do we teach food safety. So it was a really good hands-on training and sharing between any other
educators in the state.

Mark: Ahah.

Heide: Yeah.

Mark: Okay, so what else do you wanna say about food safety ahh things that wa… things that
you want to share.

Heide: I think I have covered a lot of it, I think you have to live by example ahm and expect that
all your students in order for them to follow it, if you don’t expect it, they don’t, they won’t do it.
Mark: Hmm.

Heide: Ahm, so that’s one of the biggest things and this year was the first year, we’re struggling
with our students ahm everyday ahh especially with our advance students, I struggle with my
advance students ahm because this is the first year that we implemented the hats and mandatory
aprons. Ahm in past years, we left the aprons… it’s up to you ahm whether you wear the aprons
or not, ahm and we never provided the hats…

Mark: Yes, yes.

Heide: So, this year we put it in our budget and made it a priority to actually buy enough hats…

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: … that we can provide the hats and buy and have enough aprons that we can require our
students to have an apron on. So we always enforce you know and did the hand washing and we
would say “ Okay, your hand wash as a skill in the lab.” So that was part of my things, I was say
when we start the day, get your hand wash, let’s go in the lab, keep going you know and we
would do the lab plan in the day before ahm and make sure they knew the safety concerns and so
forth.

Mark: Hmhmm.

Heide: And always remind them the safety concerns.

Mark: Yes.

Heide: Yup. Any other question you have?

Mark: That would be all ma’am. Thank you!

Heide: Oh fine!

Mark: Yes ma’am.

Heide: Good.

Mark: Thank you!

Heide: (Laugh.)

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