SPC Culinary Arts Instructor Selected Chef of the Year

At the annual convention of the Texas Chefs Association (TCA), Chef Will Thornton CEC, CCE, Culinary Arts instructor at SPC, was selected as the ‘TCA 2006 Chef of the Year.’Thornton became a candidate for this award when he was selected as the 2006 local San Antonio Chapter’s Chef of the Year.

In all, six outstanding chefs from TCA sub chapters became candidates for this honor. To be eligible, a candidate must be certified by the American Culinary Federation as a CWC or higher. Thornton holds two certifications, that of a Certified Executive Chef and a Certified Culinary Educator.Chapter and state involvement, as well as community service, were also factors reviewed by the voting members of the TCA board before making their final selection.

Thornton is a life-long San Antonian who grew up on the city’s west side, in the shadow of what was then Kelly Air Force Base. He attended culinary school at SPC and completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas State University-San Marcos and Texas A&M University. He holds certification credentials with both the National Restaurant Association and the American Culinary Federation.At St. Philip’s College, he has served as the program director for the Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management programs for more than two decades.

Irvin Named Co-Director of Writing Project

San Antonio College English Professor Lenny Irvin has been named co-director of the San Antonio Writing Project, which is dedicated to the improvement of the teaching of writing in Texas classrooms K-college. Hosted by UTSA, the project is a new part of a U.S. network of 192 sites of the National Writing Project.

"I assisted with the Summer Institute last summer," said Irvin, adding, "It is based on the model of teachers teaching teachers."

The Second Invitational Summer Institute will be held June 4-July 6, meeting Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Fifteen teachers, from kindergarten through college level, will be invited to participate as Summer Fellows, supported by a summer stipend. The deadline for applications is March 1, and the web link for applications and information is http://www.utsa.edu/graduate/Admission/index.html).

The purpose of the institute is to identify successful teachers of writing in all curriculum areas, identify successful approaches to teaching writing, involve teachers in their own writing, examine issues of student equity and access, and make current research available to teachers. At the end of the program, teachers will become teacher consultants, who will help carry out the work of the project through professional development, summer programs for teachers, Young Writers' Camps, and more.

St. Philip's College 2007 NISOD Award Recipients Named

The 2007 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development award recipients from St. Philip’s College are (l to r): James Wright, coordinator of the Basic Skills Academy (SW Campus); Ellie Sieferth, reference librarian; Larry Duron, occupational therapy assistant instructor (Faculty Senate Piper Professor Nominee); Dr. Burton Crow, dean of enrollment management; Dennis (Ted) McDonaugh, electronic system technology instructor; Renita Mitchell, math instructor; Mary Cottier, chair of math, business and computer science (Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award Winner); Pearl Conyers, professor of counseling; Vernard Grice, continuing education specialist; Rita Fonseca, fine arts executive secretary; Connie Weber, nursing education instructor; and Kevin Schantz, coordinator of service learning. All will be honored at the NISOD Convention May 20-23, 2007. (Photo by Patrick Evans)