Student Programs Chef Shares a Taste of the Culinary Industry with Local High School Students

BLACKSBURG, VA, April 18, 2006—Local high school students got a close look at professions in the culinary industry when they visited Virginia Tech to shadow Chad Tyler Brodkin, Executive Chef of Student Programs’ Personal Touch Catering. Kaitlyn Thomas and Victoria Moran, both freshmen at Auburn High School in Riner, Va., experienced first-hand the various tasks and responsibilities of the culinary field.

Brodkin showed the students how a foodservice business operates, giving them the opportunity to plan meals, research recipes for customers with special diets, tour Student Programs dining centers, and witness daily food production procedures. He also offered guidance for young professionals entering the foodservice industry, including advice on education, different careers available, mathematics and planning skills, and other topics important for a successful culinary career.

“We talked about all the different branches of the industry,” Brodkin said. “Buyers, marketing, servers, delivery, dieticians, operation managers—not just the people who do the cooking.”

Thomas and Moran participated in this learning experience as a part of the Future Business Leaders of America program at Auburn High. Both students said that they enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about a potential career in the foodservice industry and would be interested in participating in similar programs in the future.

Brodkin explained that Housing and Dining Services has considered implementing an apprenticeship program for local students interested in learning more about the culinary arts, and that this job shadowing program would give them some ideas for planning a more extensive community outreach curriculum.

“As we continue to grow as an organization, it is important for us to help others who are just starting out,” Brodkin said.

Visit www.studentprograms.vt.edu/dining for more information about the programs and services offered at Virginia Tech.

 

 

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