Excellence Is Now Being Served
Published 4:13 pm Thursday, December 30, 2010
BUCKINGHAM – There's a lot cooking in the culinary arts kitchen at the Buckingham Career and Technical Center.
The hottest item is the news that the culinary arts program was chosen by Sullivan University as one of the Hot 100 culinary programs in the nation.
Each year, the Hot 100 recognizes secondary education programs that have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in culinary arts education.
A team from the acclaimed National Center for Hospitality Studies at Sullivan University oversees the selection process.
According to the university's website, selection is based on performance at state and national competitions in FCCLA, Skills USA, and ProStart, which are co-curricular student organizations and programs.
Keeping those criteria in mind, it's no surprise that Buckingham's program drew the selection team's attention.
In March, the school's culinary team, which included Quenton Bolden, Conley Lawrence, Jocslyn Haskins, Heather Jacobs, and Jessica Davies, took top honors at the Virginia ProStart Student Invitational Culinary Competition.
Not only did Team Buckingham bring home the bacon but the team also achieved the highest score that judges for the state competition have awarded to date.
Moreover, the students earned over $11,000 in renewable culinary scholarships and went on to compete in the National ProStart Student Invitational Culinary Competition held in Overland Park, Kansas.
Buckingham CTE students weren't the only ones in the culinary limelight. During the awards banquet that followed the state competition, their instructor Chef Sandra Hawk was named Virginia's Culinary Teacher of the Year.
Responding to the news that the program made the Hot 100, Chef Hawk stated, “It is an honor to have our program recognized by a top university.” She added, “I look forward to continuing our success in the coming years.”
Hawk took over the culinary arts program in 1999. Prior to that, she was a location manager at the University of Virginia for AraMark Corporation campus dining.
“When I started teaching here in Buckingham, the curriculum was not really geared toward real world skills needed in the professional kitchen,” shared Hawk. “There were 43 competencies to cover in two years. It was very repetitive. Now, thanks to the National Restaurant Association's industry curriculum, ProStart, students are leaving here with the skills needed to step into any restaurant and get to work.”
Hawk sees her years spent working in the food industry as a true asset in the culinary classroom.
“I guess I was ahead of the curve regarding training because when I started teaching I had no idea how to teach but thanks to my management training with AraMark, I knew exactly how to train employees,” stated Hawk. “And, that is the approach I brought to the classroom. The state competencies finally caught up and now there are over 100 for each level of culinary.”
When asked what her former students are doing with their culinary training, Hawk responded, “It's more like what aren't they doing.” She explained, “Many have gone on to major culinary universities-most with scholarship money won in culinary competitions while here at BCHS.”
Other students, said Hawk, are in the military culinary corps and have been very successful. Some have even worked at the White House. Others have directly entered the industry as managers and assistant managers in restaurants and hotels.
Hawk is quick to credit her students for the program's success. “Every student wants to be successful,” she stated. “I believe it is my job to help them do just that.”
Her recipe for accomplishing that job involves encouraging her students to do their best; allowing them to make mistakes; and giving them an opportunity to do it right the next time.
When asked about the satisfaction of overseeing a program that is achieving national acclaim and watching her students succeed, Hawk responded, “I am truly blessed.”
She continued, “That sounds so sappy, but when my own children were teenagers, I worked all the time building my career. I missed so much. And now I have a chance to help develop in these young people a talent some never knew they had.”
Hawk shared, “Every once in a while, a former student will call or send an e-mail to thank me. Money can't buy that and it never gets old. All the Virginia Culinary Teacher of the Year awards, national trade magazine covers, and accolades from major universities pale in comparison to the heartfelt words 'Thanks Chef, you never gave up on me.' That is what makes my heart smile.”