How to Keep Your Brain Active During COVID-19
Professional Development Opportunities
Hospitality Training from the American Hotel and Lodging Association
This online program presents general hospitality knowledge and soft skills needed in the hospitality industry, along with concise instructions for training new or prospective employees. Current free online trainings include Supervisor Skills Building, Hospitality Manager: Leadership, and Hotel Administrator.
Access requirements: Requires a username and login to setup. Trainees must have an email address.
ahla hospitality training videos
Free Foodservice Certification Trainings from ServSafe
ServSafe has made some of their online trainings free and accessible to the public during COVID-19. These trainings include food handler, COVID-19 precaution training, and ServSuccess for Restaurant Professionals and Restaurant Supervisors.
Access Requirements: Requires a username and login to setup. Trainees must have an email address.
servsafe free certification trainings
American Culinary Federation
The ACF is a leader in the culinary industry and offers many culinary instructional videos online that are based on ACF teaching techniques. These include knife skills, protein fabrication, baking, and kitchen science. These videos offer high quality content for the topics covered, though they are relatively limited in scope.
Access Requirements: Does not require any login or email address.
acf culinary instructional videos
Jacques Pepin Foundation
Our generous partner the Jacques Pepin Foundation offers a free online video library that can be sorted by technique. These videos are geared towards an audience of home chefs and contain useful technical knowledge and instruction for those getting started in the culinary arts.
Access Requirements: Does not require any login or email address.
Life Skills and Continued Education
Many of us have more time than we know what to do with right now. This is an ideal time to encourage students to pursue continued education and transferable skills that will better prepare them for the future. Below is a collection of resources for clients to pursue self-enrichment in a digital environment.
GED Courses
Have any of your state or community colleges moved GED classes online? For clients with this need, this could be a great way to better prepare for post COVID-19 employment.
ESL Courses
For clients learning English, this ESL directory points to great resources to support their learning.
Small Business Courses
A wonderful place to start for clients who aspire to own their own business someday through the Small Business Association.
Tech Fluency Courses
If this crisis has taught us anything, it is the importance of technical aptitude for both employment and personal reasons. This Computer Training course from Alison gives a comprehensive overview of computer basics.
Financial Coaching
Increasing financial literacy and setting personal financial goals may also be a good use of downtime for students. Longtime network sponsor Bank of America has a good set of resources to get started through their Better Money Habits program, also featured at our regional summits.
Other Learning and Self-Enrichment
Clients may wish to engage in other self-enrichment and learning online. Start creating a list of their interests and see what may match up and is freely available. Here is a starter list of free online learning platforms offering everything from literature courses to data engineering.
