An Encore in the Kitchen: Chef Ron Ahlert at TEDxCharlotteED
how do you break the cycle of dependency how do you sauté up success how do you give somebody a doover the community culinary school of Charlotte does that we train adults in the food service industry how a cook or should I say we train adults how to cook in the food service industry throw in some job Readiness skills some goal setting and then job placement and I firmly believe we have the recipe for Success 720 graduates have come through our h Halls our 14we program in almost 16 years that's 720 Role Models impacting our community 720 culinarians wanting to rewrite their Legacy Legacy is an interesting word I've looked it up in many dictionaries which is a great feat for a man like me cuz I haven't read a dictionary since high school and I'm not sure if I read one back then so uh Legacy it's um ancestors leaving information and good things for those in the future what Legacy do I want to leave well I want my wife to remember me as a good husband especially on Valentine's Day Happy Valentine's Day everybody I'm working on that daily the the husband wife thing um I want my son to think of me as a good father absolutely my son Johnny I want the community to feel that I've created a positive impact the community culinary school of Charlotte creates a positive impact in its 16 years of Workforce Development our students of the community culinary school of Charlotte I guarantee they want the same things for their legacy they want to be recognized as Citizens citizens was used in an earlier speech this week by a leader of a great nation some of you might remember that fortunately it wasn't on last night there was basketball on last night I want our students to have a fair shot at that Legacy our students come to us with barriers to successful employment those barriers stereotypically could be forms of addiction incarceration issues or after 2008 and I won't say it that economic uncertainty that sits upon most of us and still does I want them to have that Legacy Recreation folks say to me chef Ron all you do all day is teach folks and train folks and teach folks and train folks how to make delicious and great food and I end up telling them well you know I'll take the credit for what my chefs do but actually I'm more in the Legacy Recreation business than I am in the cooking business now and again we want that Legacy Recreation for our students students come to us from many different Avenues social service agencies churches the court system but predominantly today in 2013 students come to us from word of mouth because the the the community culinary school of of Charlotte really does have an impact on all that it touches students come to us and go on to do great things students like Sherry Sherry came to us um I picked Sherry because she really had an impact on me personally personally she was in the insurance business for quite a long time first marriage didn't go that great second marriage was going good with three kids until physical abuse started to come into the picture imagine the rest she had to get out of that marriage to save the kids found herself in a relationship with another fella and uh to go right from the heat Into the Fire they started making methamphetamine she got arrested a good thing um before she set herself on fire served time in prison and then after prison found an agency in Charlotte that helped her find us but she could not find work in the industry that she was most familiar that insurance industry and she took a Plunge Into The Culinary Arts Sher took advantage of all that the community culinary school has to offer she excelled with our catering division she excelled in the classroom and she excelled with the spiritual side of the school the understanding of another helping another Sherry came on to finish the school very strong she earned our Chef Joe award which is the highly coveted award we give to the best student of the class Sherry now after taking advantage of all the resources that the Community culinary school had to offer is running the doves Nest kitchen off of West Boulevard she's kitchen manager in a state-of-the-art kitchen and she has the ability now to hire other students another helping another as you would say um it's fantastic what she's capable of doing she and another fow named Brandon Brandon when I think of Brandon I can't help but smile but I'm a little nervous so my smile is inside right now um Brandon Brandon had a big personality he came to us as the result of an argument and a handgun jobs were scarce I mean his record kept him from just about any job in the industry that he wanted he found us and he excelled with us he took advantage of the catering and excelled with catering he helped us break into the to the food cart industry we we got a beastro buggy another form of Workforce Development Brandon became a beastro buggy manager a beastro buggy Mentor teaching rookies the recipes it was great to see him and the others work together really going out there and making a difference in the city of charlet making a difference in their lives thus making a difference in my life and everyone's lives who they touch Ed another student that comes to mind and those two were graduates of the community culinary school of Charlotte someone else who comes to mind is a current student in class 45 we're now on class 45 and that student is Misha 15 years of age when she had her first kid her only kid lovely baby that she had um got into a little trouble and served some time in prison had a tough go of it she's 19 now and she found us we're helping her make a difference in her life she's helping us make a difference in in our lives by being there every day showing up and utilizing the skills that the school had to offer her the transition that Brandon Sherry and Misha are making is measurable we have measurable results we have to stay on board making sure that those results stay measured and stay good I'm sorry for some reason I'm a little nervous and I'm having a little bit of a an issue with my tongue and lips um I I have to get them in practice for tonight when I get home to see my wife for Valentine's Day so this is this is not necessarily a bad thing thank you very much um let me tell you about these three wonderful people that have really impacted My Life um they're working in places all around us if you've eaten within some within five miles of this very room you've eaten somewhere where one of our students Andor alumni has worked or is currently working um it's a privilege to do what we do um it's and I won't say um anymore because they REM reminded me to to to not say um anymore so I won't do that um I love the community culinary school of Charlotte I've been there since uh class three the impact that it has on my life personally can't be measured it can't because it's changed me as a human being it's allowed me the privilege of helping folks really recreate their legacy um folks end up going to country clubs hospitals um I said it again prisons on the correct sides of the bars working in the in the catering divisions um local Caterers um fancy restaurants you name it they're there I want to take this opportunity to um I said it again let you all know what a privilege it is to come here and talk to you about a place that I really care about but I have to show you something because what we do at the community culinary School of Charlotte the training we do the education we do it is on purpose I got it out all right that's good our training our education is on purpose the goal today for me was and will always be to get our folks off the Dole and on the payroll my hope today is that all of you will remember this talk and when you see somebody who could really use some education and some culinary training to remember the community culinary school of Charlotte and all that it has done and all that it will continue to do in the city of Charlotte I want to I want you to meet the students I guess that's why I'm holding this thing they really do exist Brandon Maisha and Sherry they're out there my my goal right now is I'm going to teach you something because it is a holiday it is Valentine's Day and it is important I have a lemon and this lemon has a legacy I have a cutting board and I have a knife you can try this at home but remember I'm a trained professional okay I'm going to make a lemon crown that I'm going to garnish my wife's plate tonight with okay it's going to take me a matter of moments and hopefully I will be leaving here with all the fingers that I came in with I'm going to make two cuts one on each side and just you know this is one whole lemon it's not already done or anything I've cut off the ends so I can work flat I'm going to make vertical cuts and just keep going around the lemon hoping that it makes me less thirsty and nervous and I'm making these vertical cuts and the goal is to treat my wife like the princess she is by putting a crown on her plate okay ladies and gentlemen thank you thank you very much um the community culinary school of Charlotte we teach skills we create opportunity our learning is on purpose we put money back into the tax pool of Charlotte where folks used to be dependent upon the community now they're contributing to the community we really make a difference please learn more about us keep us in your hearts um and keep in mind that our learning and our and our education is on purpose thank you very much for allowing me into your life today