Caroline Culinary Arts Serving Up Innovation,
Training and Feeding Those in Need
by Michael Valliant When David Murray started as a student in the culinary program at North Caroline High School, he knew he was going to stick with it. Fifteen years and a degree from the Culinary Institute of America later, Murray is a chef and instructor for the Chesapeake Culinary Center and the Assistant Food Service Operations Manager for Caroline County. He is kind of a poster child for the success of a program that Beth Brewster put in place in 2005. Brewster is the supervisor for food services for Caroline County Public Schools and the founder of Caroline Culinary Arts at the Caroline Schoolhouse. CCA is a cooperative partnership between the Chesapeake Culinary Center, Shore Gourmet Market and Caroline County Public Schools, dedicated to creating workforce opportunities and supporting small businesses and family farms. The Caroline Schoolhouse, which is owned by the Town of Denton, is where it all happens. “We started out with no home ~ we were working out of a van and
David Murray and Beth Brewster with no kitchen, but we knew we needed to create a job skill,” Brewster said. “My first focus was truly how to help families be healthy and economically sustainable. In some cases, it was taking displaced youth and helping them come up with career goals, job training for high school students, after-school programs for elementary school kids and families.” Murray found the culinary center program when he was in high school. He would take classes and 41