Cheyney Andrews

I grew up 1/2 years in Spain where there are a lot of 'old world' ideas about food. I find that when students are trying to stay focused on what is trendy they are focusing on the wrong thing. What works the best are the standards. If you open a restaurant and paint the walls green because that is the trend, you will have to repaint the walls. If you cook food that is trendy, at some point you will need to revisit the classics.

find a basic description of the cooking methods and keep it handy so that the critique is not subjective.

We have a menu project that is supposed to be exclusive to one class. However, we have found that by involving other instructors and the general ed instructors the students have a better and more well rounded understanding of the subject matter.

I have usual conversations in class about the technical execution of food. I find that it is highly relevant to keep a copy of Escoffier handy so that we can have a discussion that is based in fact. I find that the students have a better reaction to what I have to say if they know that it is not my opinion that I am giving them.

I spend some time with each of my students expaining that our Career Services department is staffed with the same experience that our classroom are staffed with. That as a resouce, the career services department is a valuabe stop in the path to a legitimate career. Career Services is a real place, with real people, with real experience! Our students should not be allowed to consider them an after thought!

We have a small enough population that everyone is actually involved in retention. We have blinker system that allows faculty and staff alike to share when a student may be absent. It speaks volumes about how much we care about our student body when, during the normal course of a day, we are armed with information. When I can ask a student who may not be in my class if everything is alright and offer help, there is usally a smile of safety that creeps on their face. Helps to show that we are all in this together.

It has been my observation that when the admissions reps, during tours, have the most information possible about the daily curriculum, and food we are cooking, they are better situated to answer any question the chefs my be to busy to answer. I teach an international cuisine course, we deal with some faily unique and exotic food. I spend time with the admissions reps explaing; history and geography and food timelines. Understanding the where and what and why of food has seemed to allow the reps to better speak about admissions on behalf of the school.

we cook. It is sometimes difficult to translate the theory of cooking into practice. It is essential to the success of my students to allow my classroom to be an open lab where mistakes and successes are allowed to happen freely. We acentuate both prospectives and use them as teaching moments.

At our orientation we are above and beyond about the positive realities of our business. That ethos allows for us to be completely honest about the rigors of having a career. The dedication it takes can be daunting, however if we are positive in our approach to relaying that rigor, we start on an honest footing with our students. Allows for us to be more open in our discussions later on in the program when those issues arise.