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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
George Brown Chef School Grad and Joint Program with
Regent Park Honoured at 2007 Colleges Ontario Conference in Toronto
Chef School whiz Vicky Cheng wins Premier's Award;
George
Brown College and Pathways to Education named Collaborative Educators
of the year
(Toronto, ON, February 19, 2007) - It was two trips
to the podium this year for representatives of George Brown College,
with a Chef School graduate and a joint program with Regent Park's Pathways
to Education winning awards at the 2007 Colleges Ontario Conference in
Toronto. The awards were presented today as part of the Conference's
Awards ceremony, featuring The Premier's Awards, the Colleges Ontario
Leadership Awards and the John Homer Student Leadership Award.
Vicky Cheng, a graduate of the George Brown Chef School
and a full-time tournant / saucier at the famous Auberge
du Pommier in Toronto, is the
winner of the 2007 Colleges Ontario Premier's Award in the recent graduate
category. With a George Brown College diploma in Culinary Management
and several years of kitchen experience under the guidance of Auberge
du Pommier executive chef, Jason Bangerter, Cheng has quickly become
one of Canada's hottest young chefs, winning two major culinary competitions
and a bronze award in the nationally televised cook-off, "The Next Great
Chef."
"We are very proud of Vicky's successes as a student and a professional
working in the foodservice industry," said Chef John Higgins, director
of the George Brown Chef School.
"With his talent and love for cooking, there's no telling how far he
will go in his career."
Born in Hong Kong, Cheng moved to Toronto as a high school student and
started working at Auberge on a co-op term. Mentored by Bangerter, Cheng
entered the Culinary Management program at George Brown where he kept
up a grueling schedule, attending classes from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
and then working full-time at Auberge from 2:00 p.m. until midnight or
1:00 a.m. Wishing to follow in the footsteps of his two mentors, Bangerter
and George Brown Chef School director John Higgins, Cheng plans to move
to London, England next year to further refine his culinary skills. His
goal is to someday be executive chef of a well-known fine dining restaurant.
For helping to provide at-risk students in the Regent Park area with
a unique pre-registration and orientation program to help in their transition
from high school to college, George Brown College and Regent Park's Pathways
to Education support group are the winners of the Colleges Ontario Leadership
award
in the Collaborative Educators category. Since joining forces in 2005,
George Brown College and Pathways to Education have also been providing
students with ongoing support, advice and meetings to evaluate changing
needs, including
early intervention to identify risks to academic success.
"At George Brown, we are committed to achievement that expands
beyond our campus and into the neighbourhoods that surround us," says
Anne Sado,
president of George Brown College. "Our continued focus is to build partnerships
with agencies, such as Pathways to Education, and empower those who live
in at-risk communities, and make post-secondary success a reality."
Launched
in the fall of 2001, Pathways to Education has been helping students
in Grades 11 and 12 with hands-on tutoring and mentoring, as
well as financial support and advocacy. Since the program's inception,
the dropout and absenteeism rate among participating high school students
has dropped by almost 50 per cent.
About George Brown College
Toronto’s George Brown College has established a reputation for equipping students with the skills, industry experience and credentials to pursue the careers of their choice. From its two main campuses located across the downtown core, George Brown offers 148 full-time and 1,600 continuing education programs across a wide variety of professions to a student body of approximately 63,000 (including those enrolled in full-time, part-time and continuing education programs). Students can earn diplomas, post-graduate certificates, industry accreditations, apprenticeships and four-year bachelor degrees.
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For more information, please contact:
Paul Zanettos
Media Relations Consultant
George Brown College
Office: 416-415-5000 ext. 3428
Mobile: 416-893-5435
Return to: News Releases - George Brown
College
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Revised: February 19, 2007
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