CARIBOU, Maine – The RSU 39 (Caribou and Stockholm) school board unanimously approved new programming for the Caribou Technology Center Wednesday.
Currently, the Technology Center’s food services program prepares special education students for jobs in the restaurant industry, including as cashiers, servers, hosts, line and prep cooks. But a statewide demand for hospitality workers has motivated center staff to give students broader career options.
Maine lost 13,000 hospitality workers during the pandemic as businesses closed and laid off employees and many saw fewer employees return, according to HospitalityMaine.
Starting in fall 2024, Caribou’s new hospitality program will include both mainstream and special education students, who will learn skills related to customer service, food and drink preparation, hotel operations and tourism promotion.
The hospitality program will collaborate with the culinary arts and outdoor recreation program and prepare for careers in marketing, restaurants, hotels, outdoor and recreation centers and business management, said Amy White, director of Caribou Technology Center.
“Our task is to train students to go to work in areas where there are opportunities,” White said. “Rather than try to remarket the [food service] program, we’re changing it while keeping the same staff and classroom.”
RSU 39 board members approved the outdoor recreation program at a meeting last fall. That program also will begin in fall 2024. Amanda Baker, who also teaches the center’s criminal justice courses, will lead that program.
Baker recently applied for a $249,999 grant from the Maine Department of Education for outdoor recreation equipment, White said. Welding instructor Keith Dumand also submitted a grant application for $10,000 that he would use for purchasing new personal protective equipment.
The center has not received news of either grant, White said.
The welding program also received a $250 donation from Harbor Freight Tools for safety equipment and new safety glasses, vests and hard hats from the Aroostook County Safety Directors Association, White said.
In other business, RSU 39 Superintendent Jane McCall announced that the district will release students early on Monday, April 8 to help buses avoid heavy traffic on the day of the total solar eclipse.
Caribou, along with Limestone, Presque Isle and Houlton, is in the eclipse’s path of totality. RSU 39 will release all students at 1:15 p.m. April 8 to avoid the bus routes conflicting with traffic from the expected 3:32 p.m. viewing time, McCall said.
The board did not need to vote on the early release because April 8 will still count as a full school day, McCall said.
The eclipse is expected to draw at least 40,000 people to Aroostook County, with many towns planning events for visitors.
Board members Betheny Anderson and Lou Willey, who are part of the facilities subcommittee, said that they are exploring sites within the district that could host a potential early childhood or daycare program.
The board agreed to schedule a workshop at a later date to debate the pros and cons of particular locations.
“We’ve been talking with many community partners and businesses who recognize the [child care] needs we have statewide and in the district,” Anderson said.
