ROGERS — Food safety is joining the lineup of high school classes in Rogers this fall as a way to get students a certificate that can lead to the workplace.

The school has a class in nutrition, but the new class will prepare students for ServSafe certification through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, said Susan Keller, family and consumer science teacher at Heritage High School.

“Food safety is not about cooking and eating. It’s about being safe before you get there,” she said.

The information is more technical with instruction on viruses, food-borne illnesses and food temperatures. When students finish the class, they can test for Arkansas food handler and ServSafe certificates.

The certification could increase beginning pay at a restaurant, said Jessica Ward, family and consumer science teacher at Heritage High School.

It could also be a first step toward a career, Keller said. Students would have the background in food quality control to properly handle food and know what to look for at a restaurant. Students could also move into careers from inspectors to nutritionists or chefs.

“There’s a lot of options,” she said.

The food safety program is a pilot program this school year with the Arkansas Department of Career and Technical Education.

Those developing new programs are asked how the class will translate into a career pathway, either through a professional credential, technical certificate or associate’s or bachelor’s degree, said Sandra Porter, interim deputy director of Career and Technical Education for the state.

“That’s going to make them more employable,” Porter said.

Classes must line up with industry standards before they get the approval of the Career and Technical Education Department, Porter said. All students need some kind of training past high school, but not all students must attend a four-year college program, Porter said. Approximately 74 percent of all high school students in Arkansas were enrolled in a Career and Technical Education class last year. There are certificate programs for culinary arts, occupational safety and health, automotive and welding, Porter said.

“It’s a priority for the state at this time, and we are putting some dollars behind it,” she said.

This year the department is covering costs for 79 schools so students can test as Microsoft Office specialists. Some districts were already covering the cost of the program, Porter said.

During the 2012-13 school year, 952 students qualified as Microsoft Office specialists. So far this year, 727 students have taken the test.

Fayetteville students like getting their Microsoft Office specialist certificates, said Marianne Hauser, director of professional development and career education for the district.

“It’s not a school quiz or a school test,” Hauser said. “It’s a national exam.”

Fayetteville also offers W!se Financial Literacy Certification. The test is not easy, Hauser said.

“It’s just like an AP student would take and an AP exam at the end of it,” she said.

Students can get their cosmetology license through partner programs with the district, and Fayetteville buses students to the Northwest Technical Institute campus and to Farmington High School for certified nursing assistant classes, Hauser said.

Like other districts, some Bentonville classes articulate through NorthWest Arkansas Community College, said Teresa Hudson, career and technical coordinator.

Through its sports medicine classes, Bentonville High School offers CPR and first aid certifications. In family and consumer science, students can get certificates as a child care aide, child care assistant or child care teacher, Hudson said.

Students in Springdale schools have certificates available to them in Microsoft Office, veterinary assistant and through construction management classes, said Rick Schaeffer, spokesman.

Pre-engineering students learn electrical, plumbing and carpentry skills alongside student who will be moving into skilled trades, said Stowe Hoffius, Har-Ber High School construction technology teacher. Students can pass several exams through the National Center for Construction Education and Research by demonstrating their knowledge of hand tools, safety and other topics or earn an Occupational Safety and Health Administration certificate which requires 600 minutes of computer time. A construction fundamentals certification is accepted for three hours of college credit, just like an Advanced Placement class, at Pittsburg State University, Hoffius said.

“This is for way more than just for housing,” he said.

He makes an effort to get students into apprenticeship programs where, once licensed in a skilled trade such as plumbing, electrical or carpentry work, they can make $45,000 a year, he said.

Tradesmen require a lot of skill, and as tradespeople retire, there will be a skills gap, Hoffius said.

In Rogers, there are other certificate-bearing programs from SolidWorks software that teaches computer-aided design to the Automotive Service Excellence student test that Mike Bowles, automotive service instructor administers at Heritage High School.

Barry Knight, machine tool instructor at Heritage, has applied for state approval of an advanced manufacturing class. If it is approved, the class will give students certification with Fuji Automatic Numerical Controls robotics and Mastercam certifications in Computerized Numeric Control. Existing classes have two levels of Computerized Numeric Control certificates in Haas Automation machines.

Skills give his students a job for life or a job while they pay for college, Knight said.

“The vast majority of these kids need to enter the workforce and if they don’t have any skill or training, they won’t have anything to fall back on,” he said.