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"It's graduation day for the students at Community Kitchen Academy.VIDEO: Culinary program sends grads into good job market.\"This experience has been amazing and it pretty much boosts my confidence level a lot and I'm pretty excited to see what's next in my life,\" said graduate Lyanne Rivera.CKA is a free program provided by the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf that trains people in basic kitchen skills.\u00A0 Students say the opportunities that provides mean a lot to them.\"You're learning, you're opening more doors.\u00A0 You have people to talk to, you make friends,\" said graduate Crystal Parent. \u00A0She said she plans to make the most of her new training.\"I'm just striving more than I've ever strived before as a single mom of two so I have kids that are looking up to me as a role model so I just keep striving and accomplishing as much as I can,\" said Parent.As she and her peers look past graduation toward the job market, New England Culinary Institute Executive Chef Jean-Louis Gerin, who spoke at the CKA graduation, said restaurants are avidly looking for people with this kind of training.\"Very close to the apprenticeship system of Europe and this is where people get engaged coming from all sorts of ways of life and get together to learn craftsmanship,\" said Gerin.And timing seems to be very good for these graduates.\u00A0 Ask most restaurateurs in the area and they'll tell you demand for kitchen staff is through the roof.\"I've just heard within the last week that there's a wild amount of demand in Burlington and in Montpelier.\u00A0 If you look on Craigslist you'll see the ads, like 300 posts a day,\" said Skinny Pancake owner Benjy Adler.He says he has a full staff at the moment, but adds the high demand indicates how hot the local restaurant industry is right now.\"The restaurant scene is blowing up in this community.\u00A0 Ten years ago or even just five years ago -- it's radically different today and it's incredible and its exciting,\" said Adler.Which bodes well for students graduating from culinary programs, like those who received their diplomas from CKA Thursday.Beside the job opportunities, the graduates say the staff running the program are very encouraging.\u00A0 \u00A0\"They want you to come, they want you to succeed and it's just really good how they do it,\" said Rivera.Chefs at CKA say one of their favorite parts of the job is the friendships they cultivate with their students, and watching them succeed.\"It's inspiring to work with them and for me to see them grow and keep going, and knowing that I may have influenced them in some small way, is amazing,\" said chef instructor James Consentino."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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