Pineland Learning Center Earns 5-Star Award For Food Protection from Vineland Health Department

Feb. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- VINELAND, NJ (Feb. 16, 2012) – Pineland Learning Center (PLC) is pleased to announce that it received the “2011 Vineland Five Star Award” for excellence in food protection from the Vineland Health Department on Jan 24, 2012.
In 2011, the Health Department inspected more than 450 food service establishments. According the department’s Web site, only about 40 of the establishments received 5-star ratings in 2011.

“The 5-star award has recognized the 10 percent of schools and other establishments that exceeded sanitation and food safety code requirements,” said Fred Eccleston, Director of Pineland Learning Center. “Pineland Learning Center has a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, and for students, working in the kitchen is part of the curriculum at PLC. We’re proud that the City Health Department has recognized the hard work of both our kitchen staff and our students.”

Lisa Howell, Transition and Career Education Coordinator at Pineland, said PLC’s Food Service Program is a transition pathway for 12th graders. “The kitchen staff works with PLC students who are interested in food service as a career,” Howell said. “The students work at various stations throughout the kitchen, learning all aspects of how food service works.”

Interested students in their senior year at PLC can earn a ServSafe Certificate through the school’s program, Howell said. “The certificate puts the students on the correct path and preps them for a food service career,” she said.

This is the second year of the program, and 11 students are currently enrolled in the Food Service Program. “This is a tough economy,” Eccleston said, “and we want to give our students every opportunity to find employment once they leave Pineland. This program gives our kids job readiness skills, and makes them competitive with other graduates throughout the state.”

Ceremonies for the presentation of the “2011 Vineland Five Star Award” for excellence in food protection took place at Vineland City Hall during a regular council meeting. The event was televised.

Pineland Learning Center is a private, non-sectarian day school educating at-risk students from kindergarten to twelfth grade in southern New Jersey. For 32 years, they have designed programs to fulfill the educational, social and emotional needs of their students. The goal of PLC is to help students discover and reach their own level of success.

Pineland is a place where students are guaranteed an opportunity to grow as an individual with the support of a staff dedicated to achieving positive and measurable results. Pineland Learning Center is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. More information is available by calling (856) 378-5020 or on the web at www.pinelandschool.org.

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