H‑E‑B gives $50,000 to Plano ISD Education Foundation for CTE culinary kitchen

Plano ISD and its Education Foundation announced a $50,000 grant from H‑E‑B to help stock a commercial culinary kitchen at the district’s new Career and Technical Education center.

Superintendent Teresa Williams introduced the recognition at the Feb. 18 work session and invited Brittany Esery, senior executive director of the Education Foundation, to detail the partnership. Esery said H‑E‑B and Central Market have been long‑time partners with Plano ISD and that the grant will purchase state‑of‑the‑art commercial kitchen equipment so CTE culinary students can train on industry‑standard tools.

Mabry Jackson, managing director of public affairs for H‑E‑B, said the funds come not from the H‑E‑B Fund but from the H‑E‑B Tournament of Champions, a multi‑day fundraising golf event. Jackson described the tournament’s history and said the group raised more than $16 million in the most recent event and chose to share a portion with the district to support culinary workforce development.

“...we wanted to share some of that goodness with you all to help jump start this culinary kitchen and so that you can be a catalyst for those who are going to go into the culinary workforce in the future,” Jackson said.

District leaders and the foundation said they look forward to opening the CTE center and the new culinary program.