NEW CASTLE -- The Hospitality School, a nonprofit organization created to educate, empower and employ individuals in the hospitality industry, is now offering an exploratory Culinary Arts after school program for high school students with disabilities who attend schools in New Castle County.

The free six-week program, for students age 14 to 21, will provide instruction in baking, meat and poultry cooking, vegetable and starch cooking, breakfast cookery, etiquette and table service, as well as training in life skills, resume building and financial literacy. To ensure close personal attention, only 10 students will be enrolled in each session. Participants may be provided with transportation from their school to the Hospitality School site, at the state’s Herman Holloway Campus on North DuPont Highway in New Castle.

Participants will receive a chef coat, hat and aprons, and will receive a $100 stipend and a ServSafe food handler certificate for completing the program.

“Food is an art, a passion and a therapy,” says Hospitality School founder and CEO Richard C. Carter. “We provide the training the tools and the opportunity to gain entry-level employment in the food-service industry in a caring, safe and challenging environment.”

The program runs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m.  The next session begins Oct. 31. Subsequent sessions begin on Jan. 9, Feb. 20 and April 10.

The program is funded in part by the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

To register for the program, call (302) 444-8609, extension 107, or apply online at www.thehospitalityschool.org.