School board approves contract for Culinary Arts classrooms

By the end of October, Jefferson City's Nichols Career Center will have three new, culinary arts classrooms.

The seven-member Board of Education unanimously voted Monday night to pay GBH Builders $823,803 to convert existing classrooms for the program, and to install the needed appliances.

Facilities Director Bob Weber told the board the GBH bid was the lowest of those submitted, and includes both the construction and appliances.

The classrooms should be ready for use by the end of October, he reported.

Secondary Education Director Tammy Ridgeway is excited.

"We'll be doing a cooperative work with Lincoln University - with their facility - until this is completed," she explained, "but we've got a large group of students excited, and we're ready to get moving."

When completed in about three months, Ridgeway said, Nichols Career Center will have "a full industrial kitchen. Like lots of career-tech, you want it to meet career standards - and to do that, it takes some dollars."

Lincoln has been talking about starting a college-level culinary arts program.

Ridgeway said the public school district's career-technical classes will complement, not compete with any program LU launches.

"I think this could be a precursor because, once students leave here, they're still going to want to go somewhere else, to get a degree in that," she said. "This will just help some students get started earlier. ...

"Like any other career-tech program, this will just give students two-years into that education process."

Board members also approved changes to the district's curriculum and professional development program.

Monday's special board meeting began with a moment of silence for the three teenagers killed late Saturday in a head-on collision on U.S. 54 in Holts Summit.

Board President John Ruth asked for people to "keep these individuals and their families in mind."

Two of the girls - Miriah C. McDaniel and Elizabeth K. Moses, both 17, Holts Summit - were going to be seniors at Jefferson City High School this year.

Their friend, Meggan Fowler, 13, Holts Summit, attended New Bloomfield Schools.

The driver of the other car involved in the crash - Kathryn A. Zavoral, 27, Jefferson City - also was killed.

The Highway Patrol said Zavoral was driving westbound in the eastbound lanes w