Chef Bill Telepan leads school wellness initiatives while running successful restaurants. He says that if you have a chance to give back, do it.

Bill Telepan, chef/owner of New York City’s Telepan and Telepan Local, advised new graduates of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) about the importance of giving back when delivered the keynote address during commencement ceremonies at the CIA on March 21—the first commencement held in the new Marriott Pavilion on the CIA’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus.

The 1987 CIA alumnus lives his advice. While running two successful restaurants, earning a Michelin star and being named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award as Best Chef: New York City, he has spent the last six years as executive chef for Wellness in the Schools.

Wellness in the Schools (WITS) inspires healthy eating, environmental awareness and fitness as a way of life for kids in public schools. Through meaningful public/private partnerships with school leadership, teachers, chefs, coaches, parents and kids, WITS develops and implements programs that provide healthy foods, healthy environments and opportunities for regular play to help kids learn and grow. Telepan’s work with that organization led to his being asked to serve on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to School task force when that initiative launched in 2009.

Following up on last month’s inspiration to teach curiosity by capitalizing on the five “W”s, this month Dr. Mayo reveals three additional strategies.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

This month is the second installment of suggestions for encouraging curiosity in students. Last month, we talked about inviting them to lead critiques of food, asking them to ask questions about what they are doing in class, and inviting them to consider what could be done differently each time they do something. These strategies keep their minds active and promote both curiosity and creativity along with critical thinking.

This month, we will discuss three other strategies that are part of good teaching, but can be particularly useful in promoting curiosity.

Controversy
One very effective way to encourage curiosity is to create some discrepancy about something that is being taught or discussed. Since you want different perspectives, give students various roles to play in the discussion of some concept. They will investigate it and think about it more profoundly since they know that there will be several points of view. The benefit is that they will consider more aspects of the topic knowing that they have to debate it.

Combined with last month’s article from Chef Weiner on the basic science behind critical processes in the kitchen that all culinary students should understand, the following 10 precepts truly sum up any student’s “necessary science.”

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Two months ago I raised the debate about teaching cooking science to students. Last month I wrote part one of what I personally think are the principles of science that should be taught to beginning culinary students. Here is part two:

As educators, we cannot not ignore what consumers of education seek. So why do many in education assume that teaching and training are mutually exclusive?

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

The more I researched for this article the more frustrated—and, at times, angry—I became. It appears that there are still many in the field of education who believe teaching and training are mutually exclusive.

To some, the term “training” was not even part of the larger umbrella of education. It was somehow beneath the concept of educational development. In a letter to the editor of the National Forum: Phi Kappa Phi Journal, Spring 2000, Robert H. Essenhigh of Ohio State University states: “There is another major pressure coming into universities, and particularly state universities. It is the increasing insistence—particularly from state governments (with the associated control of the money)—that students, when they leave, must be able to walk into some job without any further training.” He continues: “… universities are not in the business of training. Their business is educating.”

Career technical education (CTE) programs such as the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProStart give students the skills and experience they need to achieve rewarding, long-term careers in the high-growth restaurant sector.

By Rob Gifford

For nearly 20 years, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s (NRAEF) ProStart program has been supporting the restaurant sector by providing a steady pipeline of talent to support the industry’s growth. ProStart exposes high-school students to rewarding career opportunities and the skills needed to succeed in the foodservice field, and is considered one of the pre-eminent CTE programs in the United States

ProStart has achieved phenomenal, sustained growth based on its ability to interest young people in an industry that is creating career opportunities like few others. ProStart is stronger than ever through unique engagement between industry and educators and extends into more than 2,200 high schools across 48 states to reach nearly 100,000 students.

ProStart’s rigorous teaching materials, assessment tools and partnerships with restaurant-sector employers prepare students for careers or additional studies in hospitality programs offered at postsecondary institutions. Students also compete annually in the National ProStart Invitational, the country’s premier high-school competition focused on restaurant management and culinary arts. Furthermore, ProStart students are eligible each year for millions of scholarship dollars to help continue their studies.