Every year, tourists visiting Santa Barbara bring upward of $1 billion to the city’s economy. Yet despite the thriving tourism market, many born-and-raised Santa Barbarans struggle to find jobs of their own with livable wages.
To help remedy that, three Santa Barbara high schools offer skill-building courses in the culinary, hospitality, and tourism industries. By the time they graduate, students are ready to either move into Santa Barbara City College’s culinary and hospitality program, tuition-free through the SBCC Promise, or they can go straight into making money in Santa Barbara’s top industry.
“Some people think this is an old-school home ec class,” said Anne Gott, the culinary arts teacher at Santa Barbara High School. “It’s not home ec. We teach them much more than how to cook; they gain real-world professional skills.” For example, students who complete the program obtain a ServSafe Food Handler’s certification. “A lot of these kids feel confident they can land a job once they get their permit,” Gott said.