First Posted: 3/22/2013
A program that has experienced a lot of growth at Robeson Community College is the Culinary Arts program under the direction of Chef Lester Locklear.
When he came to Robeson Community College in January 2010, most culinary classes had between eight and 14 students. This year extra sections of classes had to be created and a second lab was opened to meet the demand for classes as the program grew by 47 students. Some of the interest in this program is due to word getting out about the background and experiences of the program’s chefs.
Locklear went to school at Johnson and Wales in Charlotte and then worked at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia and at upscale restaurants in the posh Kiawah Island area near Charleston, S.C. Locklear is also a certified sommelier, or wine professional.
When he returned to Robeson County, Locklear was more than prepared to run the kitchens in Robeson Community College’s culinary labs, but if you’ve watch food-based reality TV, you know that one chef usually doesn’t run a kitchen. Locklear gets a lot of help from Chefs Gary Kowal and Kendra Cummings.
After completing his program at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Kowal worked for three or four years at various French kitchens in Washington, D.C., before becoming a chef with ClubCorp in St. Louis. As a regional chef, he traveled the country opening new resorts. When ClubCorp bought the Pinehurst Resort, Kowal moved there as executive chef before being promoted to corporate chef.
After retiring from ClubCorp, Kowal came to Red Springs to help open Le Petit Café. It was at Le Petit Café that former Robeson Community College President Charles Chrestman met Kowal and later recruited him to join the RCC culinary staff.
“I’m excited to be here because students need us and we have a great team,” Kowall said.
Kendra Cummings is a Purnell Swett High School graduate who attended The University of North Carolina at Pembroke for one year before realizing that culinary was her passion. She earned her associate’s degree in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales in 2008 and returned to The University of North Carolina at Pembroke to work on her bachelor’s degree in business. She continued working on that degree, but also began teaching part time at Robeson Community College in 2011.
In her final year at Johnson and Wales in Charlotte, Cummings worked an externship at Marriott City Center. Cummings says her favorite class to teach is Culinary Skills No. 1 because “it’s the students’ first class and introduces them to what culinary is, so they can decide if this is really a career choice that they want to pursue.” Cummings also teaches Food Science, Food and Beverage Service, Restaurant Management, Baking No. 1, and Sanitation and Safety.
“It’s been an amazing experience to witness, to be at the forefront of the growth,” Cummings said. “Being from Robeson County I truly can appreciate the growth and the opportunities that are coming available for the area. It does impact the area, the community.”
The employment opportunities are mostly in restaurants and public schools.
According to Cummings, certain courses in the program offer certifications that are becoming more critical. Some, such as the ServeSafe certification, are increasingly being required for employment.
While food-service jobs are often thought of as low paying, students with a degree and certifications can move into supervisory and management positions that are better paid..
The results of Locklear, Kowal and Cummings work is readily apparent. Last year one of their students, Jessica Rogers, was featured in this column as she obtained a position at the Pinehurst Resort. Locklear has started a co-op program to get his budding chefs into real world kitchens. Thus far he has placed a student in a co-op program at Adelio’s Restaurant, two at Walmart bakery, one with the Public Schools of Robeson County and at local start-up bakery Granny Olive’s. He is currently working with Candy Sue’s Cafe to establish another co-op experience and hopes to establish a 2+2 program with Johnson and Wales to give students the opportunity to begin their training here in Robeson County, and then transfer to the Johnson and Wales’ Charlotte campus.
For information about the Culinary Arts program at Robeson Community College, call Locklear at 910-272-3430 or email him at [email protected].
Dennis Watts is the Public Information Officer at Robeson Community College. If you have questions about Robeson Community College or suggestions for future articles, he can be reached at [email protected].
