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Sodexo teams with area high school technical center for culinary internship

Campus Executive Chefs Audrey Maliangos and Michael Lowe work with culinary arts internship participants (from left to right) Grace Faulconer, Makayla Oliver, Rhyan Reynolds, and Tyria Clark.

While many of her friends were at the beach this week, recent high school graduate Rhyan Reynolds hovered over her freshly made pizza dough at the Woodfire Pizza eatery in Liberty University’s Montview Student Union. Carefully, she spread tomato sauce, sprinkled mozzarella, and layered pieces of pepperoni to create the perfect pie.

Reynolds joined two rising high school seniors and another high school graduate, who all enrolled in the weeklong Culinary Internship Program, hosted by Sodexo, Liberty’s dining services provider, in partnership with Campbell County Technical Center, which offers vocational and technical education for high school students.

Liberty’s Campus Executive Chef Michael Lowe and CCTC culinary arts instructor Sara Bowles worked together to show students many aspects of the business, including kitchen safety and food prep, and create their own delicious dishes. They also worked at the bakeshop in Liberty’s The Food Court at Reber-Thomas creating doughnuts, breads, and other sweet treats. On Friday, they finished the week by helping Sodexo staff preparing food for Liberty’s Summer Orientation for incoming students and their families.

“This is the first time we’ve done a partnership in this form,” Lowe said. “Students have been working closely with our chefs to learn professional skills and how they can continue their career in culinary.”

CCTC principal Jon Hardie called the internship “an out-of-the-box learning experience.”

“This is a short-term way for them to take a course, and it may help them figure out what career they would want in the future,” Hardie said. “We’re so thankful for this partnership with Liberty and Sodexo.”

Lowe said it also opens the door for students to see the opportunities available for them with Liberty’s award-winning dining services.

Rhyan Reynolds makes a pizza at the Woodfire Pizza eatery during the weeklong Culinary Internship Program, hosted by Sodexo.

“It’s a win-win for us,” he said. “Now the door is open where they could come and work with us with the skills they’ve learned this week.”

Campus Executive Chef Audrey Maliangos said the students weren’t the only ones who benefitted from the program.

“I’ve worked to get my staff involved,” she said. “They get the chance to pass on their skills and knowledge. They really seem to be enjoying talking to them.”

Makayla Oliver, who recently graduated from Rustburg High School in Rustburg, Va., said she spent a lot of her childhood baking alongside her aunt, which ignited her passion to pursue culinary arts as a career. She said spending time in Liberty’s bakeshop was one of her favorite times of the week.

“I loved being in the bakeshop and seeing the details involved with decorating,” she said.

She credits the program at Liberty for helping her realize how much teamwork is involved in a full-scale operation.

“When we were in the bakery, I saw that everyone was talking and working with one another,” Oliver said. “It wasn’t up to one person to finish the task.”

Reynolds said the intensive helped her narrow down what she wants to study when she starts college in the fall. She said she’s always loved cooking, and applied to the internship to help her build up her  p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} résumé.

“It’s good that we now have some experience under our belts,” she said.

Her dream is to host her own show on the Food Network.

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