Cooking with dedication

Jennifer Hilton-Slenker: A Combination of

From Staff Reports

AMERICUS — AMERICUS—Dream, Learn, Become! That is South Georgia Technical College’s new marketing slogan and that is exactly what SGTC Adjunct Culinary Arts Instructor Jennifer Hilton-Slenker embodies. Jennifer Hilton-Slenker had a dream. She wanted to study culinary arts. She enrolled at South Georgia Technical College as a student to learn more about that craft and then within four years of taking that first step, her dream became a reality and she is now teaching others about culinary arts.

Jennifer Hilton-Slenker of Americus enrolled in the culinary arts evening classes at South Georgia Technical College in 2003 to “develop (her) passion for cooking” and less than four years later, she became an adjunct culinary arts teacher working alongside her former instructor and mentor, David Finley.

“I felt the level of education at SGTC was comparable to other culinary schools in the state and it was in my own backyard!” said Slenker, who added that the evening classes allowed her to work full-time while training for the career she truly wanted. “Because of my circumstance, I couldn’t qualify for financial aid so I had to finance my education on my own. It was stressful, but I was determined to do it to show myself that I could,” said Slenker.

Jennifer found the culinary classes challenging and exciting. “I really enjoyed baking and learning about regional and international cuisines, but the toughest part for me was the ‘real-life’ classes like the restaurant operations class and the internship. Those were eye-opening!”

Jennifer ended up with an internship at Shoney’s in Cordele, GA, having to travel from Americus to as far as Tifton every day and on weekends. Slenker remarked, “That was really tiring, but I learned so much about the business!”

Upon graduating from SGTC in 2004, Jennifer’s traveling did not stop. She got a job as an Assistant Food Service Director for Aramark at Andrew College in Cuthbert, GA. She commuted from Americus to Cuthbert every day so that she could come home every night. Her husband, Bob Slenker, is the Instructional Technology Coordinator for Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. “We couldn’t move, so I did what I had to do,” said Slenker.

In 2005, Aramark transferred Jennifer to its unit at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) in Americus, which was much closer to home. In a very short time she began to impress her boss and clients with her skills and work ethic. “My goal has always been to do whatever it takes to make my clients look as good as possible,” noted Slenker. Her persistence paid off as she quickly moved higher into the management field at GSW.

But in 2007, Jennifer found another opportunity. David Finley, Culinary Arts Program Director at SGTC and Jennifer’s former instructor, called her out of the blue. “He asked me if I ever thought about teaching. I was surprised because it never even crossed my mind that I would ever be a teacher, but it was definitely a career option and another opportunity to learn about myself, and to see if I could do it.”

Jennifer began August of 2007 as an adjunct instructor, teaching night classes for SGTC. Soon, however, she was again entrusted with bigger responsibilities. “I quickly found myself teaching not only college students, but also dual enrolled students at Americus Sumter High School,” said Slenker. She says that she enjoys the challenges of teaching a wide variety of students. “It’s a balancing act that I have to do every day. I have to find creative ways to teach a wide variety of students. I didn’t realize that teaching students how to be successful would be what I wanted to do. But, I really enjoy helping those students with their goals. I see myself in them because I was where they were only a few short years ago,” said Slenker.

“When I first met Jennifer as a student, I saw this 20-something kid with an incredible amount of maturity,” said her former instructor and current work colleague David Finley. “I have seen her bring that with her into her role as an instructor. She takes the classes she’s teaching and constantly updates them to make them better. She sets a standard for her students to meet and does whatever it takes to help them meet that standard. Sometimes, I am amazed at how she does it!”

Not one to rest on her accomplishments, Jennifer is still looking for ways to improve. “I want to help make this program the best in the state and will do whatever it takes to do that,” said Slenker. Jennifer has shown that she has the skills and personal drive to achieve that goal.

“I am glad she is working for us instead of our competition! I would hate to have to compete against her every single day. I’d lose more than I’d win!” said Finley. “Her level of expertise coupled with her drive and experience has improved our program immensely. She is a key reason for our success here at SGTC.”

Hilton-Slenker perfectly embodies SGTC’s new slogan, “dream, learn, become!” She hopes that other students will follow their dreams whatever that may be because she is living proof that dreams can become reality at South Georgia Tech.

For more information about SGTC’s Culinary Arts program, contact David Finley at 229.931.2558 or visit www.southgatech.edu.

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