Foundation Receives Grant to Provide Scholarships
William Warren, a long-time educator and supporter of the A-B Tech Foundation, has been recognized with the establishment of a scholarship bearing his name to be awarded to A-B Tech students.
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has awarded a $50,000 grant to the A-B Tech Foundation in honor of E. Ray Cope's 13 years of service as president of the Trust. Cope retired at the end of December, and upon the recommendation of the Health Care Division Advisory Board to acknowledge his long and honorable service, a $100,000 grant was awarded to create an endowment as Cope saw fit. Cope used $50,000 to establish the William. P. (Bill) Warren Health Education Fund at A-B Tech in honor of Warren, who was one of his teachers when Cope attended Enka High School. The other $50,000 was given to an organization in Forsyth County.
"He was president of the class of 1959," Warren recalled of Cope. "He is a super guy."
Anita Metcalf, Executive Director of the A-B Tech Foundation, said Cope thinks of Warren like a father. "Mr. Warren has remained a close personal friend and has been a mentor to Cope during his career with Wachovia and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust," she said.
The William P. (Bill) Warren Health Education Fund will provide scholarships for allied health curriculum students in Buncombe County who demonstrate financial need, with primary consideration given to students from the Hominy Valley area.
Warren began his educational career in Buncombe County teaching business courses in 1950. He taught at Candler High School and then Enka High School until 1972, when he was appointed principal at Venable Elementary School. Nine years later, he was appointed principal of Candler Elementary, and remained there until June 1982, when he became principal of Enka High School.
He retired from Buncombe County Schools in 1984. However, he still taught adult education classes at A-B Tech for two more years to reflect his earlier teaching career when he would spend his evenings teaching adults at American Enka and Eucusta. He later served on the Buncombe County School Board from 1987-1990.
Instructor had Role in Civil Rights Movement
Broadus Williams
Broadus Williams sat quietly at a lunch counter 45 years ago in Raleigh, wanting only to be served.
Instead, the 20-year-old Shaw University student was verbally abused and had trash thrown on him.
Williams, who teaches in the GED lab and at Swannanoa Youth Development for A-B Tech, remembers Tuesday, Feb. 9, 1960, quite clearly. He and other students from Shaw, a historically black college in Raleigh, went into Woolworth's. "We went in and sat at the lunch counter, and they refused to serve us."
This sit-in was sparked by the famous Greensboro sit-in for civil rights when North Carolina A&T students Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and David Richmond went to a lunch counter at Woolworth's on Feb. 1 and they were refused service. Within days the demonstration had spread to Durham, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Raleigh.
Williams was majoring in religion and social studies, carrying a full workload doing practical work in both majors, but knew he needed to be involved. "I stayed there in spite of the risk. They told us they were going to have us arrested, but we would not move until they served us," he said. "They said it would never happen. People called us names, threw things and spit at us. We stayed anyway until they closed and told them we would be back the next day.
"When we went back the next day, the people at the 5&10 had taken rope and went down from one stool to the other and tied it at the end so that we would not be able to get between the stools to sit down. So our leader said to find a stool and just stand there," Williams said. "We stayed there until they closed. They were really upset because they saw we weren't going away. We were going to continue until they served us."
The next day was the same. The stools were still roped off, so Williams and students from Shaw and St. Augustine's College stood until closing.
By then, many more students had joined the cause, so many that when the police came to arrest the protestors, it became a real problem for the city. The jails filled up fast.
"When they started arresting and they got to me, they didn't have any room," Williams said. "They couldn't arrest anybody else because they didn't have anyplace to put us. They saw it wasn't going to work because we weren't scared. We weren't scared of going to jail.
"It's really funny. I wanted to be arrested. I missed out on the experience. The other students were talking about it, and I missed out on it, because they didn't have any room."
Then the movement got larger. "White students from N.C. State joined the movement. It increased and got stronger; in fact, it got so strong we actually paralyzed the city of Raleigh with the traffic. No one could move, there were so many of us.
"The city government realized this was not going to go away and they had to deal with it. We were all determined. All of us were going to see this through in spite of the risk and danger that was involved," Williams said.
It was especially risky on that first day. "It was terrible as far as the name calling and the spitting. We were taught not to be violent, and use the passive resistance techniques. We were not to strike back in any way. It didn't matter what was done to us. We were instructed not to retaliate or we would destroy everything."
No one struck back, but it wasn't always easy. "One of the girls on campus was attacked and slapped. That really stirred up the guys, but they called a meeting and told us to keep with the passive resistance techniques.
"What I did witness was on a Sunday. There were a lot of us and people were throwing bottles at us. Standing to one side was a bunch that looked like homeless people. People used to call them winos. They were watching what was going on. They said 'If you throw another bottle, we are going to come over there and whip you' because the students weren't fighting back," Williams said. No one retaliated.
"That was our determination. We were persistent and the city government realized that something had to be done. It was the 1964 Civil Rights Act that really got rid of discrimination, but we did have the city of Raleigh move in a positive way and we were eventually allowed to sit and eat," he said.
"We were positive something good would happen. We were told and assured by leadership that the day was coming, and it did."
A-B Tech Culinary Team Captures Gold At State Competition
The award-winning dishes prepared by the culinary hot food team earned the team the chance to compete in the American Culinary Federation Southeast Regional Competition.
Continuing a long-standing tradition of excellence, the A-B Tech culinary team earned the top spot in the American Culinary Federation state competition for the seventh time in a decade. The competition was held Jan. 8 at the Art Institute of Charlotte.
The hot food team was comprised of students Erin Jarvis, Adam Cole, Amanda Hollars, and Mark Hutchins. Alternates were Bronwen McCormick, who also served as team captain, and Anomaly Romano.
The first course judged was striped bass, and was prepared by Jarvis. "She scored a perfect 40, which is absolutely unheard of," said Hospitality Instructor Mark Moritz, who coached the team with Instructor Vincent Donatelli.
"At the overall score, we missed a perfect score by four points," Moritz said. "They did a tremendous job."
Hot food competitors are judged on such criteria as the flavor, taste, texture and doneness of their foods; serving methods; portion sizes and creativity. Floor judges also evaluate their organization, sanitation, teamwork, workflow, cooking techniques and knife skills.
Attention to detail added to their success. Since it was a hot food competition, the A-B Tech team made sure they kept their plates warm.
"We devised a method of keeping the plates warm. We have a marble slab, and we put it in the oven. It comes out at 300 degrees, and does not cool off for several hours," Moritz said.
The food plates are placed on the marble slab and kept warm until judging. Other teams often make the mistake of putting the plates directly on a stainless steel table that can turn a plate cold, quickly, according to Moritz.
Members of the culinary hot food team received their gold medals during state competition in Charlotte on Jan. 8. Team members pictured are second from left, Erin Jarvis, Adam Cole, Amanda Hollars, and second from right, Bronwen McCormick, and Mark Hutchins.
The team placed first competing against Guilford Technical Community College, Wake Technical Community College, Alamance Community College and the Art Institute of Charlotte.
Earning the gold medal allows the team to compete in the American Culinary Federation Southeast Regional Competition March 10-13 in Roanoke, VA. The winning team from that competition will compete in San Antonio, TX for national honors.
The team served sautéed striped bass with a white port buerre blanc and popcorn polenta, smoked vegetable salad with fresh mozzarella, micro greens, tomato sorbet and white balsamic vinaigrette. The entrée consisted of roast chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried cherries, a fig balsamic glaze, fresh fettuccini, tourneed vegetables, and roast chicken sauce. Topping it off was lemon meringue tart served in spiced sweet dough with honey-basil ice cream and a vanilla brulee for dessert.
Culinary teams from A-B Tech have won gold medals at the state level from 1997-2001, and 2003. Teams received a silver medal at the national competition in 1997 and 2003, making the A-B Tech team one of the "Top Four" nationally.