Are You Ready for a Throwdown?!

The Foodservice Educators Learning Community is pleased to announce a chance for culinary educators from secondary and post-secondary schools to compete in a culinary demonstration throw down a la “Bobby Flay.” Culinary Educators will be showcased at the Annual Summit to be held in Charleston, South Carolina, February 25-27, 2010 at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, Palmer Campus. The competition is designed to provide culinary arts educators a chance to show off their best practices when it comes to demonstrating culinary techniques, cooking styles, and culinary information in a visual medium.

Only 8 competitors will be picked for the final competition. Educators will be given 15 minutes to demonstrate a recipe or cooking techniques that reinforce excellent teaching doctrine; and can be added as a take away for our education tool box. The competitors will be on a cooking stage in an amphitheatre that seats 120 people. Each competitor will be judged from a panel of chefs and educators. Judging criterion will be based on not only technical skills sets, but also the competitors teaching skills, diversity of subject material, and delivery options that address the maximum amount of learning styles.

Time Requirements: The competition will take place on Saturday February 27, 2010 between 1:00-3:30 p.m. Competitors will be given a student assistant to help with their Mise en Place, and can set up on the stage a minimum of 15 minutes prior to going on. The Culinary Institute of Charleston will supply most culinary equipment and smallwares. Competitors will need to supply their own food, props and any visual materials to be presented. A.V. equipment will be provided (video, LCD, laptop computer, CD movie availability, screen, etc.). A list of cooking equipment and smallwares will be provided to the 8 finalists once they are accepted to compete. Please also bear in mind that those accepted to do a presentation must register for the Summit as a condition of acceptance.

Judging Criterion: The 8 finalists will be selected based on a review of submissions by members of the FELC Advisory Board, Dr. Mick La Lopa, and Michael Carmel. To be accepted please fill out the information requested below and submit it to Chef Michael Carmel electronically via e-mail at mcarmel@fooded.org by November 15, 2009. Those submitting proposals will be notified by December 15, 2009 as to whether or not accepted for the Summit.

Proposals must include:

Title of Presentation (that accurately represents contents of teaching module):

Teaching Module Topic: Please describe what you propose to teach in 75 words or less that can be published in the conference proceedings if accepted for the FELC Summit.

Full Description of Teaching Module: Please first list the topic, subject, or skill you plan to teach during your module and list the three key learning objectives you plan to accomplish as a result of teaching your module. In 500 words or less please describe the pedagogy you plan to use to teach your module, the intended audience, reference materials used to put together the module, and all materials needed to teach it.

Intended Audience:
___ Secondary Culinary Arts Educator / Student
___ Post-Secondary Culinary Arts Educator / Student
___ Both Secondary & Post-Secondary Educators / Students

Instructions for Submitting Proposals
To submit a proposal, please follow these basic procedures:

1. Send an e-mail to mcarmel@fooded.org that has the Last Name of the presenter and the
subject line of the e-mail (e.g., Carmel – Ultimate Culinary Educator)
2. In the body of the e-mail please put the title of the teaching module and the intended
audience.
3. Attach a Word document (version 2003-2007) to the e-mail that has the following:
a. A cover page with the title of the proposed teaching module, name of the presenter(s),
complete mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.
b. The second page of the attached document should only have the title of the teaching module
and full description of the teaching module.

We are only accepting one submission per educator at this time. Should you have any questions concerning the call for proposals or the submission procedures please do not hesitate to send your questions via e-mail to Michael Carmel at mcarmel@fooded.org in time to meet the deadline of midnight, November 15, 2009.