Monday marked the first day of school for new students at the St. Pius X Career Centre, where they have the option to follow many different career paths from culinary to business courses.
The career centre offers 12 different trade programs.
Enrolment for trade schools in the 2014-2015 academic year at the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) more than doubled from the previous year.
The flagship program at St. Pius is its culinary institute, which has been around for 30 years and has grown significantly.
“When I graduated from here in 1994 we had two classes,” said Adam Piperni, chef instructor at St. Pius X Culinary Institute.
“Right now with the pastry program that we have here we’re running somewhere around eight courses, eight classes, eight groups of students that come in.”
Through the culinary program, students gain real-world experience.
“Cooking is not what you see on TV,” said Tanner Demers, a student at St. Pius X Culinary Institute.
“It’s not as easy as it looks on TV, it’s not as easy as the kids make it look on TV. There’s a lot more behind the food than what comes to your table when you’re eating. ”
Programs at the St. Pius X Career Centre typically last about one year.
Students in the culinary institute gain roughly 1,470 hours of experience, which allows students and teachers to form close bonds.
“It becomes very much like a family during that last period of time,” said Piperni.
“It’s a family. It makes you as the teacher want to give more to the students.”