T.C. Williams High School alumnus Jack Harrell has been made Demi Chef in less than a year at coveted Old Town Italian restaurant Carluccio’s.
Harrell, who graduated from T.C. Williams in 2015, credits his rapid rise to his culinary arts program classes with Chef Craig Scheuerman. He was promoted after just seven months in the job by Executive Chef Alfio Celia in front of all the kitchen staff. In true chef style, Jack was given a kitchen knife in recognition of his success.
“Jack success is a testament to Chef Scheuerman, our high school and the broad success that ACPS has made in expanded vocational programs and curriculum. We are proud of him as well as T.C. Williams,” said Harrell’s father Chip Carlin.
T.C. Williams provides a variety of career and technical education (CTE) classes for any student to gain hands-on experience in a field of their interest. These classes give every student the opportunity to succeed by learning a skill or trade that will prepare them for a career in the future.
“I am so happy I made the decision to take culinary classes my junior year at T.C. Williams. I learned the basics of cooking and the sanitation rules in the kitchen. These are valuable skills that I still use every day,” Harrell said.
Harrell plans to work at Carluccio’s for many years until he pursues his long term goal of attending a French culinary school to study Charcuterie, the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products. His favorite part about working at Carluccio’s is the open kitchen as he gets to watch people enjoy the food he prepared for them.
“There are still plenty of things I need to learn at Carluccio’s before I take the next step in my career. What I’ve learned most about working at Carluccio’s is plating and how to make your food look as desirable as it tastes,” Harrell said.
T.C. Williams offers a wide range of CTE courses covering health and medical sciences; trade and industrial classes; technology; marketing; the academy of finance; business and information technology; JROTC; and family and consumer sciences, of which Culinary Arts is just one option.