AC50

Cook Apprenticeship Program provides rising chef with all the right ingredients

Imrun Texeira can stand the heat, and he couldn’t wait to get into Algonquin College’s kitchens.

“I wanted to become more versatile with my skills in and outside of the kitchen,” says the 2014 Cook Apprenticeship Program grad. “(Algonquin) helped me become (the) well-rounded chef I am today.”

Algonquin’s state-of-the-art-kitchen labs, and industry-leading instructor chefs, helped prepare Texeira for work in Ottawa’s gourmet dining scene, British Michelin-starred restaurants, and even reality food TV.

The program’s dynamic menu includes classroom sessions, stints in the College’s Restaurant International, and course-credited experience in working kitchens. It moulds students into vital members of any culinary team – and potential future leaders of their own kitchens. Courses include Theory of Food, Kitchen Management, Nutrition and Food, and Plated Deserts. Continue reading →

Recreation Leadership grad finishes career where it began

Rick Baker took the long road back home to Algonquin College.

The 1972 grad gives whole new meaning to recreational pursuit. After a wide-ranging career, Baker returned to campus in 2014 as a professor and co-op officer. For the life-long learner, that also meant revisiting the site of his first of many post-secondary degrees.

“I have a great combination of professional and volunteer experience, but it all harkens back to the great work that happened here at Algonquin College where I took Recreation Leadership,” says Baker, who now works for the Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management program [a forerunner to the current HTM program]. “That basically gave me the groundwork and framework for working with people, and its been part of my mantra and my business for some 40 plus years.”

Most importantly, Algonquin developed Baker’s interpersonal skills. Courses were “very relevant,” he adds, combining “work experience” with theory, and practical knowledge. Continue reading →

Registered Nurse grad gives College a healthy diagnosis

As an Algonquin nursing student, Pat Hamilton was prescribed the right academic medicine.

“Algonquin provided a lot of hands-on (experience),” the 30-year nursing veteran explains. “You were at the bedside for the last (year of) training…. You really came out feeling like you had a concrete experience to go from, and built the self-confidence you needed to continue.”

Hamilton graduated from the College’s Registered Nurse Program in 1986, and found immediate work at the Ottawa Hospital. Her diverse, three-decade career has included stints in the dialysis unit, and neurology division.

She also credits her professors’ encouragement and “great feedback” for giving her a well-rounded nursing education: “We had a great group of teachers at the time.” But it isn’t just the professors and patients who made an impact; her classmates were at the heart of her educational experience. Continue reading →