Culinary program at Renton Tech<\/b><\/p>\n
receives $25,000<\/b><\/p>\n
They\u2019ve learned to wrangle yeast and make a fine meal of wild king salmon and crab-stuffed prawns.<\/p>\n
They are the women of the Renton Technical College culinary-arts program and they\u2019re about to get some help paying for their education.<\/p>\n
An international organization of women devoted to fine food, fine beverage and fine hospitality is finalizing a $25,000 endowment to the Renton Technical College Foundation.<\/p>\n
From the earnings of the endowment will come scholarships of $1,500 for women enrolled in the culinary and baking programs. About 60 percent of the students enrolled in those programs are women.<\/p>\n
In total, the baking program has eight students and the culinary arts program, 29 students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s terrific that we have a scholarship that targets them in particular,\u201d Deborah Ranniger, the foundation director, said of the women in the programs.<\/p>\n
Tuition and supplies for the 12-month professional baking program are about $4,500 and for the 18-month culinary-arts program about $8,500.<\/p>\n
Once done with the program, students \u2013 women and men \u2013 are almost assured a job in their field. The program has a 100-percent placement rate, according to Doug Medbury, the culinary-<\/p>\n
arts director.<\/p>\n
For many students, according to Ranniger, the ultimate goal is \u201cto strike out on their own and start their own business.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s true for Alison Hansen, 22, of Renton, who will graduate from the one-year professional baking program in December.<\/p>\n
She wants to open her own pastry shop in five to 10 years; right now she\u2019s trying to get a job at a bakery.<\/p>\n
And her interest in the culinary arts extends outside the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the Food Network,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Another student in the baking program, Savannah Clifford, 19, of Renton, wants to bake professionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what I love to do the most,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She also would like to obtain a teaching certificate so that she can use her culinary skills in the classroom, especially with children.<\/p>\n
When she started the program, she said she had never worked with yeast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have learned a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Each student has his or her own career goal, including owning a bakery or restaurant or going to work in a hospital or in commercial food service, Medbury said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach has their own individual aspirations and goals,\u201d said Medbury.<\/p>\n
And many of the students face \u201clife challenges\u201d that come up during the course of their programs. Some are single parents.<\/p>\n
A scholarship would help ease those challenges, Medbury said.<\/p>\n
The $25,000 endowment is coming from the Seattle chapter of Les Dames d\u2019Escoffier International.<\/p>\n
The organization is named after a famed French chef \u2013 Georges Auguste d\u2019Escoffier \u2013 who is considered the father of 20th century cooking, according to Linda Augustine, the chapter\u2019s scholarship chair.<\/p>\n
The RTC endowment is the fourth for the organization. Two others go to Washington State University and one to Seattle Central Community College, according to Augustine.<\/p>\n
The RTC endowment \u201cwas a great fit\u201d for the organization\u2019s endowment program, because it goes to a technical college, she said.<\/p>\n
The organization also was impressed with the passion shown for the culinary program by the RTC staff members who made the presentation, she said.<\/p>\n
The RTC culinary program is one of the few in the region and it has a busy catering program, including high-end dinners. It will help kick off the Farmers Market in downtown Renton on June 3.<\/p>\n
Ranniger, the foundation director, said her organization is \u201cthrilled\u201d to receive the endowment. Les Dames d\u2019Escoffier last awarded an endowment in 2002, so they aren\u2019t presented often, she said.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the RTC program also will receive a $1,000 scholarship to be awarded in the next school year.<\/p>\n
The goal, according to Ranniger, is to increase the endowment through other fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n
The culinary program also has another endowment that funds scholarships, she said. The largest of the foundation\u2019s 16 endowments is about $140,000, she said.<\/p>\n
The number of scholarships will vary from year to year, mostly depending on the interest earnings. Representatives of Les Dames d\u2019Escoffier will interview prospective candidates, then pass its recommendations to the school for a final decision, she said.<\/p>\n
And a \u201cstrong message\u201d is sent that the women in the RTC program are important, Ranniger said, and there\u2019s an organization committed to their success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge statement,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a confidence booster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050, or at dean.radford@rentonnews.us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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