Thanksgiving Luncheon

Thanksgiving Luncheon Provides an Education and Employability Skills for Technology Center Culinary Arts Students

More than 400 pounds of turkey, 300 pounds of ham, 250 pounds of whipped potatoes, and 100 pies and desserts, are required to provide a Thanksgiving luncheon for over 1000 community guests at Meridian Technology Center. The Meridian Culinary Arts students who are enrolled in the courses of culinary arts assistant and restaurant food and beverage serve management assistant gain education and employability skills. Students assist with the planning, organizing, production, and service of the event which provides a live and realistic learning experience.

The Thanksgiving luncheon requires the assistance of all 50 students and staff. Four student leaders from the previous year are chosen to assist with coordinating the students who are participating for the first time. The student leaders direct the student teams in the preparation and production prior to the event and during the event. They will serve as the leaders in the two dining areas on the event day. The student leaders are responsible for delegating tasks and making sure the event runs smoothly. Students learn about the skills and coordination required to host and serve the estimated 1000 people within a two- hour time frame. The interaction with the guests provides valuable lessons in being professional, providing outstanding service and meeting the needs of the customers.

The luncheon has been benefitting the students and community for more than 30 years. This year the Thanksgiving luncheon will take place on November 14, 2008, from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at Meridian Technology Center.

For more information on the Thanksgiving luncheon or to learn more about the Culinary Arts program, call 377-3333 or visit www.meridian-technology.com.

Carolyn LeGrand is a Culinary Arts/Lodging Management Instructor at Meridian Technology Center

(My note-What a great way to get the students involved with the community!! Marketing, public relations, recruitment and more can be rolled into one event included in your uear-round recruitment plan. Your students participate and get real world experience while doing something relevant, and everyone gets to eat!!)

(Picture-The First Thanksgiving by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris, hosted by wikipedia)

Are you LinkedIn?

As the number of social networking Web sites reaches over 250 you have to be asking yourself where do I start? The sites are overpowering when you aren't sure what they will get you.

Recently Meridian Technology Center's management team was brought together to explore Web 2.0, LinkedIn style. The online professional networking site is intended to manage professional relationships and professional success. Users can create a profile where they add connections, include information on their professional experience much like a resume, and can post recommendations from former colleagues. In addition, the site boasts a job board of sorts where companies can look for candidates and see their resume, through their profile, online.

The management team at Meridian has used it for a different reason. They have created an online discussion group where they explore management topics that are not always easy to do in person. Topics like the recession, defining economic impact, and drop out rates have all been discussed through this virtual leadership team meeting. Many members of the team are brand new to this online social networking site and have learned to navigate it through the group discussions.

ACTE uses LinkedIn to share discussions as well. They have over 150 members in their ACTE group who are now discussing blogs and the national STEM summit.

How do you get your ideas? Do you discuss them with non-biased members of your career field? You can do that on LinkedIn through a professional group. Some of the larger groups have 15+ topics posted a day on relevant issues for that career field.

Using this Web 2.0 tool has meant the leaders at Meridian are becoming more familiar with the tools their students often use. Sites like this come as second nature to secondary students today. The only way to get to know them is to jump in. Do you know what social networking sites your students use? A simple and easy survey of your students can tell you. How will this information help you? You can engage students in their native language: digital.

Tawny Dotson is Director of Strategic Communications at Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, OK.

Dreaming of being a fighter pilot......

"How does a guy who wants to grow up to be a fighter pilot wind up working in economic development for the state of Oklahoma?"

You may ask "what is economic development and why is this important"?

Let's start with you. Unless you win The Lottery or are wealthy beyond measure, it is highly likely that you will have to work for a living for a fair amount of your adult life. Harsh reality, get over it.

You will want to work in a job you love and that pays you handsomely. Your employer will want a highly-skilled associate that can bring positive results on a regular basis. This is where CareerTech comes in. We help Oklahomans become "highly-skilled" so that they can get a great job and grow in it over the course of their career.

So, what is the payoff?

You get skills from CareerTech and you go to work for a company who pays you well. You take that wage; spend it on a house, taxes, groceries, a righteous vehicle and so on and, in the end, all Oklahoma benefits from a steadily improving standard of living. That is economic development.

So, what does Scott Smith do in Economic Development? Some of the work I do involves meeting with companies that are considering either moving to Oklahoma or expanding their existing operation by opening a facility in our state. I help businesses understand how they can create a highly-skilled workforce in Oklahoma by using CareerTech technology centers.

What makes it interesting is that we are competing with 49 other states. We work to reveal their filthy lies ......well, not really, because America has some great places to build companies besides Oklahoma.

But, in the end, it is our job to present the incredible value that Oklahoma brings to business and then work to bring great companies, who pay great wages and offer great jobs, to Oklahoma so they can hire great folks like you.

Scott is CareerTech's Cordinator for Economic Development and can be reached at ssmit(@)okcareertech.org