Culinary commitment

Adult Learning Center gets bonus for its track record -- again

SCC president has leadership role at Homeland Security Summit

Keep promises to Kentucky voters

Culinary commitment
Technical college students can now work toward bachelor’s degree

For Bowling Green Technical College’s culinary students, school has never tasted quite so good.

The program recently entered into an agreement with Sullivan University in which culinary students can transfer the associate hours they earn at BGTC and use them toward a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management at Sullivan.

“Sullivan has a nationally ranked center of hospitality management,” said Michael Riggs, head chef for BGTC’s culinary program. “This partnership allows students to complete their associate degree and enroll at Sullivan at the junior level. Then they can continue to take courses toward that degree at KCTCS tuition rates.”

As an added bonus, classes at Sullivan can be taken completely online.

“They never have to set foot on Sullivan’s campus, unless they want to take part in their graduation ceremony,” Riggs said.

BGTC’s culinary program usually enrolls between 40 and 50 students, and Riggs said he expects the added partnership with Sullivan to attract even more people.

“It’s another benefit to offer students that want a bachelor’s degree,” he said. “I’m hoping people will consider that as a career path.”

Riggs was supervising “pasta, grain and potato day” during Wednesday’s class at the college. A handful of students were experimenting with turning mashed potatoes into various shapes for garnishes and starchy treats.

Katie Hale, a student from Lafayette, Tenn., was busy making potato squiggles, to which she later added sugar so they would harden and make a nice garnish. She said the culinary arts program teaches her everything she wants to know to open her own catering business one day.

“I’ve always enjoyed cooking, so I said, ‘Why not do this?’ ” said Hale, who is in her third semester at BGTC. “It keeps me going. It’s stressful, but when you’re done and the food’s all out there, you’d do it all over again.”

Culinary students aim for a variety of careers, which can include being a professional chef, a restaurant manager, caterer, dietitians and even personal chefs, an area Riggs said is booming. Personal chefs usually have about five clients they cook for a few times a week, and those clients can eat it right away or freeze it for keeping.

George Nations, a student from Russellville, is preparing for an internship in Walt Disney World from January to August. He’ll be cooking at the Liberty Treat Tavern in the Magic Kingdom.

“It’s going to be an experience,” Nations said. “But it’ll look really good on my resume.”

Nations, who decided to be a chef because he “likes to eat,” plans to travel in the early years of his career and then open up his own catering business, serving weddings and similar functions.

“I like to create something and get satisfaction as soon as I make it,” he said.

Like many programs at the technical college, the culinary program has students of various ages, races and backgrounds, but all with the same love of cooking. Some come straight from high school; others are pursuing a second degree for a career change. There’s even one grandmother in the program, Riggs said.

There’s also a focus on meeting students’ needs.

“What I really like about the program is how accommodating it is to non-traditional students,” said Melissa Lawson, who is in her third semester at BGTC. “Some have families and have other responsibilities, too.”

Lawson, who has two young daughters, said she’s even brought her kids to class with her before. The instructor didn’t let it bother him at all, she said.

“I like the hands-on curriculum we have here,” Lawson said. “But it’s also a good program and very challenging, and that’s a shock to some students.”

Her goal is to attend Sullivan and eventually get a master’s degree or even a Ph.D., then come back and teach at BGTC.

“The program does an excellent job,” she said. “Chef teaches us that we can excel in anything we want to do.”

Adult Learning Center gets bonus for its track record -- again

The 18-year-old admitted she was more than a little nervous.

In just a short while, she would be taking her GED test for her high school equivalency diploma, and she felt she had a lot riding on that Wednesday evening exam.

She's one of the newer enrollees at the Henderson Community College Adult Learning Center, which has just earned its fourth consecutive state bonus for exceeding enrollment goals.

This student came to the center Oct. 5 to begin brushing up on her basic scholastic skills. She's been out of school since the end of 10th grade, and feared that she might have forgotten some things.

"They've been great to me here," she said of the free instruction and materials. "They've really encouraged me."

She dropped out of school, she said, "because of problems at home. My parents were divorcing and I felt like my family was falling apart. I couldn't concentrate on school."

The Adult Learning Center -- the oldest such program in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System -- gave her a second chance. It will be about three weeks before she learns whether she passed her GED test on the first try, but a member of the learning center staff expressed confidence that she did.

She intends to enroll in college computer courses and, hopefully, land a job utilizing those skills.

During the last fiscal year, there were 1,056 enrollees at the center located on the ground floor of the campus administration building. The eight-member staff -- only three of them full-time employees -- had set a goal of 1,014. The fact that the target enrollment was again surpassed, as it has been every year since the state began offering enrollment incentives, brought the center an additional $16,827 for its programs.

That achievement made Henderson County one of 40 in the state to have adult education programs that have exceeded enrollment goals in each of the last four years.

Adult education programs in 91 counties -- including Union and Webster Counties -- are sharing nearly $1 million in incentive funds for the most recent fiscal year. Union County's adult education program, which had 406 adult education enrollees, earned $4,473 and Webster County, which had 353 enrollees, earned $3,437 in incentive funds.

The HCC Adult Learning Center, which has formed a partnership with the Henderson County Even Start Family Education Program, has received incentive bonuses totaling approximately $40,000 since 2001. Center Director Pam Wilson said those funds have purchased new computers, upgraded staff training and provided "tons of materials for our students."

There is no charge for any of the center's services, though after the first of the year there will be a fee for the GED test.

Wilson said she believes word of mouth has been the primary cause of enrollment growth at the center. "When students are successful, they want to share the good news," she said.

In addition to GED instruction and testing, the center provides an array of services that include workforce education, pre-employment testing, literacy, English as a second language, and upgrading basic academic skills.

SCC president has leadership role at Homeland Security Summit

Somerset Community College President Dr. Jo Marshall was the co-chair of the highly successful Southern and Eastern Kentucky Summit on Technology: Linking Homeland Security and Hometown Prosperity held at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset on Nov. 4-5. Ewell Birdsong, the newly appointed executive director of the National Institute for Hometown Security, co-chaired the event with Marshall.

The summit underscored the successes that have been achieved in integrating technology into Southern and Eastern Kentucky. It also highlighted the important role the Tennessee Valley plays in supporting important federal, regional and local efforts related to homeland security and counter-terrorism.

Marshall also moderated the general session on Technology and Workforce Development for the 21st Century - Keys to Economic Growth, which was held on Thursday, Nov. 4.

Tom Ridge, the U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security, gave the keynote address to the summit on Nov. 4, while Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher spoke to the assembly on Friday, Nov. 5.

During the summit, Fifth District U.S. Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, announced the establishment of the National Institute for Hometown Security, which will be based at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset. The Institute will be a non-profit organization that will seek out and engage opportunities for homeland security research and development activities aimed at critical infrastructure protection. Over $4 million in grants to accomplish the objectives of the new organizations were announced at the summit. Ewell Balltrip was selected as the executive director of the new institute.

The Congressman also announced the formation of the Kentucky Homeland Security University Consortium. The organization will emphasize academic cooperation and collaboration between Kentucky public universities, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and Kentucky private universities. During the summit, Dr. Michael B. McCall, President of KCTCS, and the presidents of other Kentucky institutions of higher education signed the consortium agreement.

“It is quite exciting to be a part of this important homeland security effort,” Marshall said. “I was very pleased and honored to be asked to co-chair the summit.”

Keep promises to Kentucky voters
Editorial

Those chosen Tuesday to represent the citizens of Northern Kentucky, both in Frankfort and Washington, have a clear mandate: balance the budget, keep more tax revenue produced by Northern Kentuckians in Northern Kentucky, improve education and health care, and help the economy grow.

Most candidates promised voters they would meet those goals in some form or another. They identified many of the state's flaws; now let's see how effective they are in finding solutions.

Sen. Jim Bunning, sent back to Washington for a second term, listed among his top priorities working getting money to replace the Brent Spence Bridge. There is arguably no more important project for the long-term future of Kentucky and Ohio. The aging bridge links the two along Interstates 71 and 75, but it has become a dangerous chokepoint for tens of thousands of travelers daily.

Republican Geoff Davis, replacing retiring Ken Lucas in Congress, talked a lot about health care and national security. Along with winning state legislators from this area, he lamented that there are not enough insurance companies in Kentucky to provide competition, that doctors are leaving the state and that skyrocketing health care costs are hurting businesses and families.

These winners promised to address those issues. We will hold them to their promises.

Two issues need attention right away. Northern Kentucky lawmakers must find money for Gateway Community and Technical College and the special events center at Northern Kentucky University. More than $50 million had been earmarked for the NKU arena and $14 million for construction at Gateway's Boone County campus. The two-year college is nimble and responsive to business, and is an economic asset to the region. But because lawmakers couldn't pass a budget in April, spending projects were placed on hold.

Democrats have long dominated Kentucky politics, but with Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, GOP control of the Senate and a majority Republican delegation from Northern Kentucky, Frankfort now has a two-party system that should serve the constituents, not result in gridlock.