Mehlville Teacher Cooks with Newscasters to Show off New Culinary Program

Mehlville High School's Shirley Rauh fixed a spinach pesto for two Fox2 newscasters on Saturday.

Rauh, a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, demonstrated the pesto as one of the techniques students at and high schools are learning this year through a new culinary program.

The district received a $5,000 grant for each high school to install kitchen equipment for ProStart, a culinary career-building program created by the National Restaurant Association.

About 90 students are in the program and will learn about the culinary industry.

They'll also have a chance to earn sanitation certification required for all restaurant managers. Achieving this certification in high school will put them ahead in finding a job and culinary school, Rauh said.