Items filtered by date: January 2011

By Jamie Leeds

The president of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs calls on us to acknowledge the achievements of women culinarians and hospitality professionals in recognition of National Women’s History Month.

In 1987, Congress declared March National Women's History Month. A special Presidential Proclamation annually honors the extraordinary achievements of American women. The National Women’s History Project (www.nwhp.org) based in Santa Rosa, Calif., has declared 2011’s theme “Our History Is Our Strength.”

Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR) was founded in 1993 by Lidia Bastianich, Elka Gilmore, Joyce Goldstein, Johanne Killeen, Barbara Lazaroff, Mary Sue Milliken, Anne Rosenzweig and Barbara Tropp. WCR’s mission then and now is to promote and enhance the education, advancement and connection of women in culinary and hospitality fields. We offer a variety of networking, professional and support services—including a vibrant scholarship/internship program that creates opportunities for future and established professionals to gain needed or desired skills at home and abroad.

By Paul DeVries, M.A.Ed.

Teacher Rafe Esquith of Los Angeles personifies the meaning of a moral and inspirational education leader.

Moral leaders in academia stand few and far between. It is only the pervasive and tenacious who are able to remain steadfast in their mission, to have the courage to speak up despite others’ moods of discouragement. Far too often, freshman teachers capitulate early in their careers, falling victim to an all-too-common faceless bureaucracy. There is, however, a light that shines bright, one that can provide hope to even the most overworked and underappreciated teacher.