A team led by Chef Michael J. Ditchfield, Penn College instructor of hospitality management/culinary arts, was named the winner of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s inaugural cooking competition, Chopped.
On Ditchfield’s team were volunteers from three of the Food Bank’s partner agencies: Ron Taylor, a trained chef and a volunteer and member of Diamond Street Christian Church; Karla Sexton, business development/client development officer for River Valley Health and Dental; and Narcisa Ebner, a client of Hope Enterprises’ as well as Food Bank board member Frank Pellegrino. Ditchfield’s “Blue Team” faced off against the “Red Team,” led by Chef Peter Daugherty of The James Restaurant and featuring a similar group of community members.
Students in several hospitality courses showed off final projects to visitors from six high schools, who visited campus April 26 for Hospitality Visit Day. During a session in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium, Amaris T. Smith, of Williamsport, and Nolan S. Lester, of Perkiomenville, presented their senior projects before the high schoolers headed for tours of campus and a visit to the Thompson Professional Development Center for the Grand Pastry Buffet, a capstone project for students completing their degrees in baking and pastry arts. In addition to viewing and tasting the work of baking and pastry arts students, the visitors tasted nonalcoholic mixed drinks prepared by students in the Hospitality Beverage Management Service and Controls class, voting on their favorite. As high schoolers toured the rest of campus, they took in final projects of students in the Cakes and Decorations and Cake Decorating II courses, on display in the Madigan Library.
University of Rome student Lorenzo Stefanelli (left) and his professor, Chef Felice Santodonato, demonstrate a recipe for risotto.Santodonato and Giacomo Berselli, president of Marco Polo Study Abroad, explain a cooking method during a demonstration and tasting for students.Students Jacob W. Parobek, of Seltzer (center), and Kobi A. Shannon, of Lewistown, observe Santodonato.Santodonato provides instruction to student Noah E. Siegle, of Milesburg.Santodonato and Berselli join Chef Mary G. Trometter, assistant professor and department head of hospitality management/culinary arts, in the Le Jeune Chef kitchen.
Chef Felice Santodonato and Giacomo Berselli, president of Marco Polo Study Abroad, made a visit to campus April 24-25 to work alongside hospitality students and provide information on a study abroad course in Italy beginning in 2020. On Wednesday, Santodonato, of Ceccano, Italy, provided students a demonstration and tasting of “Cucina Ciociara,” the cuisine of his region. Santodonato is a professor of science and culture of enogastronomy at the University of Rome. He was assisted by his student Lorenzo Stefanelli. On Thursday, the pair worked alongside students in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant to prepare an Italian meal for the public. In the May 2020 semester, the college will offer the course Global Food and Hospitality: Cuisine, Culture and Perspectives, a 14-day experience in Italy that includes hands-on cooking classes in four locations, as well as visits to hotels, vineyards, other agricultural sites, and vinegar and cheese producers, as well as cultural tours.
A group of Pennsylvania College of Technology students put their lessons to work recently as they conceived, planned and managed an event that provided an opportunity for their peers to interact with regional employers.
Billed as “Professional Coffee & Conversation,” the event featured a panel discussion by eight employers, who answered students’ questions about job interviews and resumes, communication in the workplace, the top qualities they’re looking for in employees, and more. Following the panel discussion, nine employers staffed tables to interact with students, while coffee and other refreshments were available. Most were offering internships, part-time or summer jobs, or full-time work.
Student managers for the event, Gray and Jordan, plate the dessert: key lime pie with coconut panna cotta.Students Jordan, Showers and Meszaros look over the main course before serving: an herb-and-garlic-crusted loin of beef with classic au jus lié and potato cake.Callahan prepares seared scallops.Shannon and Gray plate an intermezzo of tropical citrus sorbet.
It is fitting that each year, Pennsylvania College of Technology students enrolled in a catering class bring their talents to a historic building that, when built in the late 1790s, was a tavern and inn. Set along the Susquehanna River in Lewisburg, it served river travelers.
Now the structure is open to the public as the Packwood House Museum, and among the highlights of the year for the organization is a raffle for an elegant “Champagne and Orchids” dinner for eight, created by the Penn College catering class and served in the museum’s dining room.
Pennsylvania College of Technology will again be part of the hospitality team for the running of the historic Kentucky Derby on May 4.
Twenty-eight students, 10 alumni and a faculty member are set to spend a week in Louisville, Kentucky, where they will join a legion of culinarians from Levy Restaurants, the food purveyor for Churchill Downs.
While there, the students learn to produce high quality cuisine in mass quantities.
“Our students continue to be instrumental in the production of premium food service, working with some of the top chefs in the country, plus celebrity chefs,” said Chef Charles R. Niedermyer, instructor of baking and pastry arts/culinary arts, who will accompany students to the Downs for the 12th time.
From left, students Jace A. Crowl, Cynthia R. Setzer, Maren A. Zaczkiewicz, Amber Kreitzer, and Deirdre L. Satterly represent the college at the Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology festival in Phoenixville.Penn College students prepare to interact with guests.
Penn College took its celebrated “The Taste of Technology: Sweet and Savory Science” presentation on the road again over the weekend, sharing the scientific side of baking, pastry and culinary arts with youth during the Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology event at Phoenixville Area Middle School, in the southeastern region of the state. GETT is an annual event for girls in grades five to 10 and their parents to learn about career opportunities in a broad scope of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics-related industries. Five students made the trip to provide a tasty, hands-on science lesson: Jace A. Crowl, of Landenberg; Amber Kreitzer, of Port Treverton; and Deirdre L. Satterly, of Shippensburg, who are majoring in baking and pastry arts, and Cynthia R. Setzer, of Port Allegany, and Maren A. Zaczkiewicz, of Williamsport, who earned associate degrees in baking and pastry arts and are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in applied management. They were joined by faculty members Chef Todd M. Keeley, instructor of baking and pastry/culinary arts, and Chef Frank M. Suchwala, associate professor of hospitality management/culinary arts. This is the third year that Suchwala, Keeley and students have taken “A Taste of Technology” to the GETT festival. They’ve also presented the topic multiple times at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., and for K-12 students taking part in campus events. Photos provided
Pennsylvania College of Technology business administration student Dianna R. Weaver, who is completing an internship with Northwestern Mutual, has been selected for the company’s Next Level Development program.
Interns selected for the program have written 10 or more life insurance policies during their intern year and plan to continue to work for the company.
Weaver, of Morris, has been interning as a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual for nearly a year, completing the same duties as a full-time financial representative. Working under the guidance of an experienced mentor, she develops clients and helps them to devise a financial plan to meet their goals. As part of the requirements to work as a Northwestern Mutual intern, she secured the Pennsylvania Life Accident and Health license.
A member of the Barilla Pasta World Championship team will headline Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Visiting Chef Series in April.
Chef Manuel Uribe, sous chef for Terzo Piano, a restaurant inside the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, will spend three days on campus with the restaurant’s lead pastry chef, Rachel Erceg, mentoring students and working alongside them to produce the elegant Visiting Chef Dinner that will culminate their visit.
Courtesy of a gift from a locally based financial advisory firm, students enrolled in business majors at Pennsylvania College of Technology have access to Barron’s Digital subscriptions, as well as a variety of resources provided through an experiential learning initiative offered by the Barron’s in Education Program from Dow Jones.
Hudock Capital Group is providing a two-year gift to Penn College to be licensed for the program. Also benefiting from the program are business faculty at the college.
Two papers presented by Pennsylvania College of Technology employees at the annual conference of the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International were selected “Best Session Paper” and will be invited to be published in the Journal of Business Leadership.
Pennsylvania College of Technology recently announced the winners of its annual Food Show.
The Food Show provides a venue for students to share their final projects in several courses and to gain feedback from industry professionals who judge their work. At the same time, it offers a learning experience for high school students interested in hospitality-related careers, who make a visit to the show as part of a daylong campus experience.
A Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate-turned-instructor was recognized as one of the nation’s leading educators and mentors in Bake magazine’s annual “Twentyfive” special edition.
Chef Charles R. Niedermyer, instructor of baking and pastry arts/culinary arts at Penn College, was profiled with 24 other industry leaders in the magazine’s November 2018 issue.
“For the first time, we turn the spotlight on education in our annual Twentyfive special edition, highlighting professional educators and mentors who go above and beyond to educate, inspire and lead in the fields of baking, pastry and chocolate,” editor John Unrein notes in the issue. “They work tirelessly to help the industry reach new heights and achieve excellence in quality and presentation.”
State Sen. Patrick M. Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology on Thursday.
Browne, who represents the 16th District – which includes Allentown and other municipalities within Lehigh County – came to campus after presenting an election and legislative update at a breakfast sponsored by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
He was invited by fellow Appropriations Committee member Sen. Gene Yaw, who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. Yaw also hosted the Chamber legislative update event, held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport.
Mark A. Ciavarella, associate professor of business administration/management, teaches high school students about the steps of writing a business plan during an Entrepreneurship Challenge event at the college.A team from Bradford Area School District develops a business plan for an ice cream shop.Students from Berwick Area School District hash out their target audience and sales territory. They are pitching a business that manufacturers an add-on component for hybrid vehicles.
High school students participating in the Pennsylvania Council on Financial Literacy’s Entrepreneurship Challenge gathered in the college’s Penn’s Inn facility on Wednesday for a one-day conference to help them define and develop their business concepts and write a summary business plan. They were guided in the activity by Mark A. Ciavarella, associate professor of business administration/management at Penn College, and Tim Keohane, director of the Small Business Development Center at Lock Haven University. PennCFL sponsors local, regional and statewide competitions that allow students to pitch new business ideas. The Penn College event was the first of three such conferences the organization is hosting this month at area colleges. Following the conference, the students return to their schools to complete and submit their business plans for prizes. The top three teams are invited to PennCFL’s state competition.
