Local Chapter of Texas Restaurant Association Presents $20,000 Check on May 21 for Scholarships Supporting Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry and Hospitality Management Majors
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June
2024
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Europe/Amsterdam
2023-2024 grads also receive coats during recognition ceremony
Article by Melinda Eddleman
Their passion is part of an industry that helps drive the Coastal Bend economy––the food and beverage industry––which goes hand-in-hand with eating local if you live here and providing some of the best cuisine to tourists who visit the region. And, whether these professionals work in the kitchen whipping up savory morsels or sweet concoctions or manage the front of the house, greet guests or make sure operations run smoothly, the Del Mar College (DMC) Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry and Hospitality Management Programs prepare students for careers in an industry that can satiate the palate and provide a variety of dining experiences unique to the area.
Lisa Pollakis and May Mendoza with Hospitality and Culinary Student Organization officers and Oversized Check_052124
To ensure these students training for careers through the College’s programs have the financial resources to fulfill their passions and local workforce needs, the Texas Restaurant Association Coastal Bend Chapter (TRA-CBC) presented an oversized $20,000 check on May 21 supporting the Coastal Bend Restaurant Association Scholarship administered through the DMC Foundation. The funds will support between 10 to 15 students pursuing their certificates or associate degrees from DMC to become culinary and hospitality professionals.
The TRA-CBC has a long history of providing scholarship funds beginning 25 years ago; and in 2017, the chapter presented $70,000 to support DMC students training for the industry.
The same day, the TRA-CBC also held their 3rd Annual Flavors of the Coastal Bend on the College’s Oso Creek Campus to showcase regional restaurants and bakers, allowing attendees to taste and savor the cuisine and sweets presented to them before voting for their favorites. Several DMC Culinary Arts students participated as part of this year’s Flavors of the Coastal Bend to offer their own delectable bites and sumptuous sweets as a means to demonstrate their own acumen and creativity with food.
Faculty Lisa Pollakis and Israel Villanueva_Culinary Arts Student_Coat Recognition Ceremony 052124
Prior to the TRA-CBC’s check presentation, the Hospitality and Culinary Student Organization (HCSO), or student club, presented 20 coats during a Graduation Recognition and Coat Ceremony to graduates who completed their programs in December 2023 and May 2024 and to those students expected to graduate this August. Club members gave 19 white chef’s coats to Culinary Arts graduates and one blue coat to a Hospitality Management graduate. Additionally, those who completed the required number of volunteer hours for the club received red cords.
The Coat Recognition Ceremony was only the third such recognition held by the Culinary and Hospitality Student Organization with the last one in 2022. Held in 2019, the first ceremony was organized by faculty with presentation of cords only.
Elizabeth Tressider_DMC Faculty_CPC_Coat Recognition Ceremony_052124
Del Mar College Baking & Pastry Instructor Elizabeth Tresider addresses DMC students with the Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry and Hospitality Management Programs during a Coat Presentation and Recognition Ceremony held at the Oso Creek Campus on May 21 to honor and recognize the hard work of 2023-2024 graduates. (Credit: DMC College Relations)
Faculty Claudia Hurt_Elizabeth Tresider_Lisa Pollakis and Baking and Pastry Student_Coat Recognition Ceremony 052124
Del Mar College Baking & Pastry Instructor Elizabeth Tresider hands a white coat to a DMC graduate from the program as other faculty members look on. A Coat Pr3esenttion and Recognition Ceremony was held at the Oso Creek Campus on May 21 to present white chef’s coats to 19 Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry 2023-2024 graduates, along with a blue coat for one Hospitality Management graduates, to honor their hard work and entry into their chosen fields. (Credit: DMC College Relations)
About Del Mar College
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.
Latest DMC News
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ACCT’s regional awards acknowledge the contributions that community college trustees, equity programs, chief executive officers, faculty members and professional board staff members provide to meet the needs of the communities they serve. The awards program is sponsored by Edamerica, one of ACCT’s Corporate Council members, and regional awardees will now move on to compete for the national award in their respective categories. Dr. Stone will compete for the 2024 William H. Meardy Faculty Member Award in October against other regional awardees from Illinois, New Jersey, South Carolina and Washington. The recipient will be announced Oct. 25 during the Annual ACCT Awards Gala in conjunction with the association’s 2024 Leadership Congress in Seattle, WA. Among criteria ACCT considered in selecting regional Faculty Member Award recipients were: • demonstrated excellence in teaching, • innovative program development, • technical or special program committee service work impacting community colleges on a local, state or national level, • leadership in problem-solving community college challenges, • affiliation with state or national associations supporting post-secondary education through leadership, and • awards recognizing nominees’ leadership. Dr. Stone’s nomination to meet these criteria is summarized as follows: The History Professor imparts on his students a style of learning that is simultaneously exciting, complex, thought-provoking and deeply relevant with students walking out of class ready to engage in pressing issues with the skill set to not only excel in further history coursework but also to succeed outside the educational environment. As a thoughtful, insightful and highly successful educator, Dr. Stone’s in-person and online United States History courses are always in great demand and fill as soon as they open for registration. Recognized by both students and peers for his efforts, Dr. Stone was awarded the Dr. Aileen Creighton Award for Teaching Excellence in 2019, the highest teaching honor at Del Mar College. In 2021, he was voted Teacher of the Year by his students; and this May, he received the prestigious statewide Piper Professor Award from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, an invitation-only nomination process. Dr. Stone consistently distinguishes himself among his students as a cut above and is not content to design a course once and allow his material or methods to atrophy. He constantly updates his teaching and evolution as an educator. And even when the COVID-19 pandemic impacted all aspects of higher education and teaching, Dr. Stone, who had never intended to teach online, rose to the challenge and created one of the most well-designed, appealing, organized and intuitive course shells at Del Mar College. As the first among DMC History faculty to adopt an Open Educational Resources (OER) textbook, his implementation of the digital resource made life easier –– and college more affordable –– for his students who no longer had to purchase printed versions from publishers. Dr. Stone’s leadership in this small but important initiative influenced others in the College’s History Program to follow in the same direction. Dr. Stone’s commitment to quality education does not stop at the classroom. He has supported history education in the community through numerous presentations, including at Congregation Beth Israel and through his service on the Corpus Christi Landmark Commission. He also has presented his research at numerous conferences, symposia and talks across the state, bringing attention to historical issues that are particularly relevant to Corpus Christi and South Texas. Dr. Stone’s commitment to leadership and solving challenges at the College has been extensive, including but not limited to directing the History Program and chairing both the DMC Curriculum Committee and Faculty Council. He recently chaired the History Program’s Five-Year Review Committee, an important and very labor-intensive project. Besides teaching duties consisting of 15 credit hours of U.S. History class assignments each semester, Dr. Stone also advises History and Social Science degree students. Dr. Stone’s work on these vital committees has helped establish and enhance institutional policies directly related to the faculty constituency and academic standards. Dr. Stone was among the College’s first History faculty to think seriously, read broadly about and develop a course philosophy related to the use of generative artificial intelligence in student work. Rather than avoid the issue of artificial intelligence or respond punitively to its use, he chose to confront this technology and develop ways to make it useful for students. Dr. Stone has been a member and supporter for nearly 20 years of the Texas Community College Teachers Association and also has been a member of the DMC’s branch of the American Association of University Professors for many years. Additionally, Dr. Stone received in 2013 a research grant from the Texas Jewish Historical Society and in 2008 and 2013 a project completion grant from the Southern Jewish Historical Society. In addition to receiving the Piper Professor Award and Creighton Award, the College’s student body elected Dr. Stone as the 2021 Teacher of the Year Award recipient for the Heritage Campus, adding to many previous credits he already received. Additionally, Dr. Stone served as the honorary keynote address speaker during the 2023 Southern Jewish Historical Society’s Annual Conference, and he was the Southern Jewish Historical Society Book Prize winner in 2011. The Association of Community College Trustees is a nonprofit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern over 1,000 community, technical and junior colleges in the United States and beyond. For more information about ACCT, go to www.acct.org. UPDATE: Watch the video clip with Vice President and Chief Academic Office Dr. Jonda Halcomb announcing Dr. Stone's receipt of both the Piper Professor Award and the ACCT Western Region Faculty Member Award:
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