VGCC Culinary students excel at SkillsUSA competition
Vance-Granville Community College students recently earned two first-place awards and a second place in Culinary Arts competitions at the 51st annual State Leadership and Skills Conference. The college's chapter of SkillsUSA also received recognition with a Top Ten Membership Award.
Students and faculty attended the conference in Greensboro on April 19-21. A record 2,300 participants competed in 110 contests at the conference, billed as the largest showcase of career and technical education in the state.
Dustin Gregory of Oxford, a student in the VGCC Culinary Arts program , won first place in the Culinary Arts category. That victory qualified Gregory to move on to the SkillsUSA National Conference, to be held in June in Kentucky, where he will compete with post-secondary students from across the nation. For his competition, held at Guilford Technical Community College, Gregory had to think on his feet in a “mystery box” competition, in which each student was given a box of ingredients with which to prepare a meal in a limited amount of time. He prepared airline chicken with a mushroom cream sauce, roasted parsnips, sautéed spinach, and chicken noodle soup with pasta made from scratch.
Another Culinary Arts student, Denise White of the Gela community in Granville County, took home the first place prize in the Culinary Arts Skill Showcase (a state event only), held at the Greensboro Coliseum. White created a “Pool Table” edible display of cupcakes made to resemble pool balls, arranged with a rack.
Emory Gant-Hawkins of Henderson, also a Culinary Arts student, won second place in the Restaurant Service Technology competition. At this event, held at GTCC, Gant-Hawkins demonstrated her skills in customer service as she set a table in five minutes, served customers while educating them about their meal and prepared table-side guacamole.
In addition to the individual honors, VGCC’s SkillsUSA chapter as a whole was recognized with the Top Ten Membership (Post-Secondary) Award. The chapter was established in the fall of 2015.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of secondary and post-secondary students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA chapters help students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations excel. Among the benefits to VGCC students are opportunities to participate in competitions, which are designed by industry experts and showcase the nation’s top career and technical education students.
The VGCC delegation to the conference included four students and 14 faculty members. VGCC Cosmetology student Kierra Richardson of Warrenton competed in the “Fantasy” competition.
“We are very proud of our students and faculty alike for representing Vance-Granville so well,” said Steve Hargrove, VGCC’s Public Services department chair and lead advisor for the SkillsUSA chapter. “This was only the first time that our new chapter has participated in the state conference, so it is an outstanding achievement for our students to win two events and be recognized as the state’s best in Culinary Arts.”
For more information on SkillsUSA at VGCC, contact Steve Hargrove at hargroves@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3467.
Above: From left, VGCC Public Services department chair and SkillsUSA chapter lead advisor Steve Hargrove, Culinary Arts instructor Chef Teresa Davis, students Denise White of Gela, Dustin Gregory of Oxford and Emory Gant-Hawkins of Henderson, and instructors Chef Rebecca Smith and Chef Riki Strum. (VGCC photo)
