Hi, I’m Jules Faulkner.
You may remember me from such blogs as Knight & Dave, Promises Promises and a pretty slick MySpace page back in ’06, (when there was no such thing as “too many” glitter GIFs).
I’m delighted and honoured to be this year’s recipient of the Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Scholarship, generously contributed by the Stratford Tourism Alliance and the Joseph Hoare Gastronomic Writer in Residence Scholarship. The latter of these comes with an opportunity to do some blogging for Stratford Chefs School (SCS).
My hope is to share as much here as I can about student life at SCS and offer any helpful insight I may have to prospective students, staff or simply curious members of our community. As these awards can make all the difference to any student, it seems natural to start with an introduction to our other scholarship recipients and a massive thank-you to the private sector programs that have supported us!
Nathan Graff-Rowe
Nathan is this year’s recipient of the Lindsay Reid Memorial Scholarship for outstanding achievement in Level 1 Pastry and Stratford Chefs School Scholarship for outstanding Level 1 achievement overall.
It’s no surprise to anyone who has met Nathan that he takes the overall achievement award. He approaches everything he does with an enormous and unstoppable amount of energy and drive. In addition to his achievement at SCS, he was the winning contestant on an episode of Chopped Canada, (Mirin Mirin on the Wall, season 2 episode 5) and a competitive gymnast and dancer before going into coaching. In his spare time, (after all that he claims he still has some) Nathan enjoys gardening and spending time with his family.
Barbara Langford
Our recipient of the Akeela Rabley Scholarship for Mature or Second Career Students is one of the most impressive yet unassuming people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.
A Mom of four and a grandma of three, who started her career in banking, then got involved in the automotive world where she and her husband built their own successful business, now going on 35 years. For fun, she’s into sport bikes, sailboats and scuba diving. She sang in a band until she lost her voice, (temporarily, it’s back now) loves cooking for neighbourhood parties and spent several years cooking for the homeless. If that’s not enough – she keeps bees!
Ryan Morrison
With eight years previous experience in professional kitchens ranging from McGinnis Landing, Oar House, Black Trumpet, Abruzzi, Icarus Resto Bar, Gusto Wine Bar and Byron Freehouse, Ryan’s outstanding practical ability made him an excellent choice for the T. Kent Calhoun Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in Level 1 Cookery.
When not in the kitchen, Ryan enjoys fishing and travel and spent his summer apprenticing in B.C.
Sean Hannam
The Garland Canada Manitowoc Foodservice Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in Commodities went to Sean, our resident musician who came to SCS after studying music production in Ottawa.
Sean is an avid gardener and traveller. He started cooking professionally in Australia and after graduation, hopes to continue to tour and cook his way across the globe!
Jessica Johnston
Our shining star, our guiding light and everyone’s inspiration*, Jessica is a perfect fit for the Canadian Hospitality Foundation Culinary Management Scholarship.
Despite being one of the youngest students in our program, Jessica is a natural leader and already an accomplished instructor who developed and taught youth cooking classes through her church community. Outside of school, Jessica is a great lover of tea, music, dancing, and is a big fan of Thomas Keller.
* Mrs Johnston, you can just Paypal me that fiddy.