The Carnegie School of Home Economics is celebrating its 77th anniversary this year with number of activities including an exhibition of students’ work, a health fair and a recipe contest.
In a press release the school said it will observe this milestone under the theme ‘Bearing Much fruit.’ On April 28, the institute will host a church service at the Trinity Methodist Church followed by an exhibition and sale of work done by students. The next day it will host a Health Fair and a Recipe Competition which will again allow students to display their creativity. The activities will close with a Hot Dog and Food Sale, tickets for which are currently available at the school.
In September, the school will introduce a Competency Based Education Training (CBET) pilot programme. The CBET is an educational system that emphasises specification, learning and demonstration of those competencies (knowledge, skills and behaviour) that are central to any given task.
The school was once called the Carnegie Trade School and was founded in 1933 on a grant donated by the Carnegie Trustees and from another grant from the UK Funds that were used to alleviate unemployment among women. Girls who dropped out of school were encouraged to attend this trade school where they were taught to make ladies’ garments and uniforms. The school also did large-scale catering on request.
According to the release the trade school was discontinued in 1958 and the institute renamed it the Carnegie School of Home Economics with a curriculum fashioned to give “every girl an opportunity to learn all the skills and attitudes that were essential for good home, family and community life.”
In 1971 a separate catering section was established and a training restaurant was opened. From 1988 to 1990 the catering programme was enhanced by financial and technical assistance provided by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and the Canadian International Development Agency.
The school currently offers the following full-time programmes: Household Management – two years, Catering and Hospitality- one year, Garment Construction – two years and Cosmetology – one year. It also hosts 10-week evening classes in Fabric Decoration, Crochet and Macramé, Elementary and Advance Cookery, Elementary and Advance Cakes and Pastries, Floral Arrangement, Cake Decoration, Elementary Tailoring and Elementary, Intermediate and Advance Dressmaking. The classes are held from Monday to Thursday from 5 pm – 7 pm.
