Michigan Student Wins Chefs4Students Culinary Grant

July 30, 2010 - PRLog -- Reluctant Gourmet is honored to announce the winner of the Relucant Gourmet Culinary Grant. This grant, in association with Chefs4Students.org is given out to a culinary student in need of financial assistance. This year's winner is Karly Krentz from the Secchia Institute for Culinary Arts in Grand Rapids, MI.

For the 2009/2010 academic year, Chefs4Students.org received more than 1350 applications from students at over 39 different culinary schools across the country and abroad. Eligible students attended a culinary school at the time of the award, show proof of their financial need, provide letters of recommendation, transcripts and a 500-word essay.

Chef David Nelson, co-founder of Chef4Students and a panel consisting of several certified chefs, business executives and culinary professionals from various organizations across the globe carefully reviewed the applicants to pick several top candidates. At this point, I was able to review those picks and choose a student as the recipient of The Reluctant Gourmet culinary grant. It was not easy to choose a candidate; they all had great backgrounds and well written essays.

Karly is 18 years old, attended Fruitport High School and is now attending Secchia Institute for Culinary Education (SICE).  In high school she was part of the culinary arts team in 2008 and 2009.  After high school Karly moved to Grand Rapids to attend SICE.   I want to share with you a portion of Karly’s essay sent in with her application talking about her experiences in high school with the culinary team.

That year Karly and her teammates placed first in state for the fourth year in a row, a real testament to the students and their coaches Chefs Christian Madsen and Scott Hunter.   This win meant a trip to San Diego, California for a chance to compete in a high school national culinary competition where they ended up placing second in the nation.   In her senior year, Karly and her teammates continued the dynasty and took home the gold medal in the state competition for the fifth year in a row.

After reading Karly’s references required in the grant process, the future looks bright for her. Quoting Michael Wheeler, her Fruitport high school culinary arts instructor,

“ I cannot overstate Karly’s level of integrity or dedication. She loves her craft and is excelling in culinary school at GRCC. She has trained under chefs from a Five Diamond restaurant and these men have come to respect her tremendously not only for her dedication but her character. Karly is a wonderful asset to this great industry and I wholeheartedly would recommend her for her ability and enthusiasm.”

About Secchia Institute for Culinary Education
The Secchia  Institute, as part of the Grand Rapids Community College, is a recipient of the national award of excellence in post secondary food service education from the National Restaurant Association/American Vocational Association.  They are also the national headquarters and training site for the world cup of pastries American pastry team, as well as the national training site for the USA pastry team.

As one of only two culinary arts programs in the nation, SICE has been awarded American Culinary Federation accreditation for three consecutive seven-year cycles – 21 years.  So you can see the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education offers educational excellence, experienced faculty and affordability – a great combination for their student’s success.