Essay

To whom it may concern,

 The above image is my business card. It reads: Damion Brown - Culinary Arts Instructor. I’ve often thought about changing it to reflect the most important parts of my job. Then it would read: Damion Brown – Motivator, Scholarship Finder, Mentor, Competition Coach, Listener, Student Empowerer, College Researcher, Student Employment Coordinator, Advice Giver, Graduation Police, Fun Learning Creator, Role Model, College Liaison, Encourager, Employability Coach, Excellence Promoter and Relentlessly Positive Influence. Oh, yeah, and Culinary Arts Instructor.

 My philosophy on the culinary teaching profession is simple. In 20 years, unless a student goes on to culinary school and continues their career in the culinary field, they’re not going to remember how well you taught them to tourné a potato, truss poultry, or make a consommé. But if you can teach them the meaning of integrity, the value of effective communication, the importance of working for what they earn and earning what they work for, and the significance of being accountable for their actions then you may just be able to truly make a difference in their lives. I teach my students that though our world is changing around us every day, the things that will make you excellent have not yet changed. Can a student leave my class and begin to make their way through life with the tools to be excellent? Excellent employees. Excellent bosses. Excellent chefs. Excellent spouses. Excellent parents. Excellent citizens. Excellent people. The culinary arts part simply provides a medium for the promotion of excellence.

As far as my qualifications for the TRAEF Educators Excellence Award, I can speak to that as well. Culinary arts at the Hollenstein Career and Tech Center is in its first year. Aside from the design of the kitchen, I did all other work involved to get the program started which included all ordering, curriculum writing, organizing the advisory board, vendor set-up, setting up the program bistro and dozens of other responsibilities to make sure this program is one of the best in the state of Texas. This is the second time I’ve completed this process, having started the Irving ISD culinary program before transferring to Hollenstein.

In our first year, my students took seventh out of 21 schools at the Dallas Area ProStart Competition. We swept the Commercial Baking competition at SkillsUSA District 4 and also took first in Culinary Arts and first in Food and Beverage Services.  At SkillsUSA State Competition, those students went on to take second in Commercial Baking and third in F&B Services.

I’m a member of the Fort Worth Chef’s Association. I plan to test for ACF Certified Executive Chef and NRA Foodservice Management Professional within the next six months. All of my students have received OSHA certification and ServSafe Starters certification, and will take the ServSafe Managers exam later this year (I am a Certified Instructor and Proctor). In addition to guiding my own students in SkillsUSA, I am also the SkillsUSA Texas Commercial Baking Technical Chair. I’ve spent countless hours working with the national technical chair to make sure the Texas competition closely resembles the national competition so that Texas students can be successful at the national level. My students organized a Hunger Hits Home viewing and charity event for the local food pantry that totaled over 1500 meals in contribution. On campus, I am a new teacher mentor and serve on the portfolio committee.

 Culinary arts is my passion and I am fortunate to be one of the few people in this world that can say they’ve found their dream job, but my “IT” is to promote excellence among students.  I hope that you’ll find that as valuable as any other qualification that could be stated when selecting the recipient for the Educators Excellence Award.