Pierpont C&TC Culinary Arts Receives National Recognition

Pierpont C&TC Culinary Arts and Pastry & Baking Arts programs recently received accreditation through the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFFAC).

Evaluators from Columbus and Cincinnati, OH, and Fort Wayne, IN came to assess the program’s curriculum, facilities, and faculty this past November. The three member team was made up of an industry professional, a culinary education coordinator, and a representative from the ACFFAC.

The Culinary Arts program had received its initial accreditation in 2004. However, with this latest review the program’s accreditation was renewed for another 5 years.

Chef Brian A. Floyd, CEC is the coordinator for both the Culinary Arts and Pastry & Baking Arts programs.

“This review is a tremendous validation for our programs. We have been incrementally increasing the quality of our programs and this substantiates our work,” Floyd said.

Stacey Dent, a first year Culinary Arts student from Parkersburg, said, “This program has been a good experience for me. I have learned a lot that I don’t think I could have learned somewhere else. I have tried a number of things that have pushed me beyond my (culinary) comfort zone.”

The Pastry & Baking Arts program was established in 2005, and has been gaining steady momentum since. The Pastry & Baking Arts program also received an initial accreditation of 5 years.

Devin Young, a Pastry & Baking Arts student who attended Putnam Career & Technical Center, hopes to eventually open her own bakery. While she was in the kitchen preparing some fresh croissants she said, “Now that the school has demonstrated that it has met the national standards, I know that I can meet them too.”

The Culinary Arts program added Chef Jay R. Mahoney, CEC as a full-time Chef-Instructor, and the Pastry & Baking Arts program added Pastry Chef Kristen Cirolia as an adjunct faculty in January.

“I truly believe the addition of this high caliber faculty put us over the top,” said Floyd. “All other components were in place. We have grown from 15 students to 75 in the past five years. In fact, we have gone to a competitive enrollment system to manage our growth and raise the quality of our student graduates. Our facilities are kept immaculately well. Chef Mahoney and Chef Cirolia provide the missing links to our continued success.”

Floyd has already moved past the accreditation and has been working with city officials to assess the market and financial feasibility of opening a student operated bistro in downtown Fairmont. He expects the study will be complete by spring and will make a decision then whether to continue to pursue to the project to establish the Culinary program downtown, a project which he hopes will attract other restaurateurs to follow.