Director's Message The tasting menus are set, the tents and twinkle lights are ordered, the beers are brewed and the gardens are tidied. All we need now is YOU! Join us Thursday, September 26 for what we think is the best fundraiser of the year! Opportunities for Education provides scholarships for Kalamazoo Valley students who are ready to start a new life. Join us for this informal, fun evening at Kalamazoo Valley's Food Innovation Center to taste creations made by local chefs and by our student brewers. To learn more, to buy tickets or to donate to our scholarship fund, visit KVCC Foundation
Alisha Siebers
Associate Vice President for College Advancement
Executive Director of the KVCC Foundation asiebers@kvcc.edu
269.488.4821
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS FOR THE 2024 OFE ON SALE NOW!!! Come join us in raising funds for student scholarships at Kalamazoo Valley Community College at the 2024 Opportunities for Education Event.
The September 26 event at the Kalamazoo Valley Food Innovation Center will feature some of the region's most popular restaurants along with student and faculty chefs from the college's culinary and brewing programs. Guests will enjoy a walk-around tasting under a big tent where they can sample signature dishes along with beer, wine and other beverages. Tours among the vegetables, flowers and herbs growing in the Food Innovation Center's greenhouse will also be available. Purchase tickets here
Alumni Business Directory on Foundation Website Our Alumni Business Directory is growing! Check out all the alumni owned businesses.If you are a business owner, add yourself to the directory here. Not a business owner? We encourage you to support the Kalamazoo Valley alumni or student-owned businesses in your community by tapping into their services and offerings. Business DirectoryAlumni Spotlight - Chef Jadon Hawkins
Jadon Hawkins, a 2009 Loy Norrix High School graduate, used to imagine himself cooking for audiences. "As a teenager, I wanted to be a chef on TV like Emeril Lagasse," he said.
Today, he's a culinary instructor for Kalamazoo Valley Community College and service manager of the student-run 418 Restaurant in the Culinary and Allied Health Building.
There were several factors that led to him enrolling in classes at Kalamazoo Valley. "I decided to come to Kalamazoo Valley Community College because I wanted to go to school while being able to continue working at the same time," he said, "Also, classes usually have a smaller student to teacher ratio and tuition it is less expensive than a traditional four-year college."
He worked at a downtown Kalamazoo restaurant while taking classes and earned an associate degree in applied science in the culinary field. The hands-on, immersive culinary training and the camaraderie of his fellow cohorts kept Hawkins inspired and engaged when he was a student. As an instructor, he finds it exciting to learn new techniques and to modernize and push creativity in the field because culinary trends are always changing.
Hawkins has this advice for his students, "Work hard and be relentless." Jadon is one of our featured chefs at the 2024 Opportunities for Education Fundraising Event-you wont want to miss it!
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon-August 24 Pink Floyd's progressive eighth album is put to stunning visuals that will send you to the moon. The album remained on Billboard charts for an amazing 741 weeks, from 1973 until 1988, longer than any other record in history. The music you know is taken to a new level when combined with stunningly crisp computer graphics and shown on the planetarium's dome. Purchase tickets here
Summer and Fall 2024 Community Education Classes
Kalamazoo Valley Community College provides engaging learning opportunities for community members of all ages. See classes here. These non-credit offerings include a variety of enrichment classes, corporate training sessions, culinary instruction and professional development. Register at www.kvcc.edu/community.
Thanks to funding from the Kalamazoo Foundation for Excellence, a full scholarship is available to residents of Vine, Edison, Oakwood, Eastside and Northside neighborhoods. Please email or call 269.548.3315 for a discount code if you live in one of these five neighborhoods.
Staff Support If we can be of any assistance to you please give us a call.
Alisha Siebers Annette Chapman
Executive Director Foundation Officer & Grant Coordinator
269.488.4821 269.488.4442 asiebers@kvcc.eduachapman@kvcc.edu
