McArthur High School recently held an event known as ‘Hollywood’s Next Top Chef,’ where Hollywood restaurants worked with special needs students to cook and learn about the restaurant business. A number of local education officials and community leaders including Mayor Josh Levy sampled and judged the food.
The program was designed to educate McArthur’s special needs students on how restaurants work. Eventually, some of the students might pursue careers in the food service industry.
Kevin Dreifuss of the restaurant Ends Meat prepared hamburgers and enjoyed teaching the youth how their restaurant works. Sebastian Aristizaba, a student worked with Que Perrros enjoys cooking and said he would like to be a chef. Naim Shabani, the owner of Tony the Pizza Chef II said he was pleased to work the students and believed they were learning important life skills.
Eileen Santiago, a teacher at McArthur High School received a grant from the Broward Education Foundation to develop the program. “They are learning life skills as well as how restaurants work,” she said.