PLEASANT GAP — The Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology, a vocational school that offers technical education and training programs in Centre Hall, announced that culinary arts instructor Tim Beckenbaugh was the recipient of the 2024 James H. Maynard ProStart Educator of Excellence award.
For Beckenbaugh, cooking has been a part of his life since long before becoming a teacher at CPI. “I started cooking when I was a little kid with my great-grandparents and grandparents,” Beckenbaugh shared. “I just fell in love with cooking as a youth.”
Beckenbaugh’s great-grandparents were from Germany and helped start his culinary education at a young age while cooking their favorite meals together. As a child he helped his family raise and process hogs and preserve harvests from their garden. Then he joined the Marine Corp, gaining his first professional experience as a cook. After, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York and had an extensive career as a chef, food and beverage director and food researcher and developer.
“I went to work for Weis Markets. I did research and development for them for 14 years. And somewhere in there towards the latter part of that, I realized, I do the science behind food,” Beckenbaugh shared, explaining the science behind producing food for consumption that could last on a shelf anywhere from 10 to 20 days. “There is an exact science to that, and, if you make a little mistake there, a lot of things can go horribly wrong down the road. I just thought to myself, ‘You know, I have a really unique perspective on food for a chef. I think I have something I can offer.’ And I got into teaching, and here I am 17 years later — 16 years here at CPI — and I love it. I just love it.”
CPI offers more than 18 secondary programs, over 60 in-house adult and continuing education programs and more than 350 online courses, one of which is the culinary program, which offers high school students the opportunity to learn high demand skills that they can use either in college, at a technical school or in the career field upon completing the program.
“The goal, as with any technical program, is to make students career-ready with basic knowledge, or post-secondary-ready if that’s the route they take,” Beckenbaugh explained. “So we learn a lot of the basics. We start with food safety and sanitation, and we work our way through basic knife skills, then through basic stew, sauces and stocks — basic cooking principles. And then that grows on itself. We do basic baking skills, front of the house management skills, math, which is important in the industry, and then once they are seniors, we do some American regional cuisine. Then we do international cuisines, and we make and eat a lot of amazing food.”
Many of Beckenbaugh’s students go on to become chefs, own businesses, work in the food sciences and more. Many also pursue further education. And it was his dedication to his students that led to his nomination for the 2024 James H. Maynard ProStart Educator of Excellence award, an award which seeks to highlight a key instructor utilizing the ProStart education program.
“I got a phone call from Hope Steiner. She is the education chair for the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, and I teach a curriculum called ProStart which is through the National Restaurant Association,” Beckenbaugh said. “She called me up and said, ‘I would like to nominate you for the Pennsylvania chef educator of excellence award.’ When I asked what for, she explained that it’s for chef instructors who do things a little bit differently. It can be anything from their teaching style to a unique part of their curriculum.”
Beckenbaugh helped CPI start an international program, which takes him and his students to Italy to take cooking classes throughout the country, including a pizza course in Naples, learn about the rich Italian culture, try cheese from a Parmesan Reggiano facility in Bologna and more.
The establishment of the program stood out to Steiner, who nominated Beckenbaugh, even though he noted he was initially hesitant about it.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my career. I’ve won a lot of awards. I’ve had a lot of recognition,” he explained. “But at this point in my career, I really want my students to be recognized for all the amazing things that they do. And they do a lot of amazing things.”
However, this did not stop Steiner from nominating him, and when it was announced he had won, and he attended a ceremony to accept the award, the impact of what the award symbolized to him hit.
“It hit me right in the heart. I realized I am making a difference, and I’m helping students do things that they wouldn’t normally get to do,” he said. “I would say to my own children that my mission for them is to broaden their horizons. And sometimes it is uncomfortable and sometimes it’s not fun. … I gave them all these amazing adventures. I didn’t shower them with money or gifts. I showered them with adventures. … And now I’m taking my high school students and giving them the opportunity to go on these adventures abroad too and to see all these amazing things and eat all this amazing food.”
And after his students go on their adventures, Beckenbaugh shared how he hopes they will one day take the knowledge they learned from him and pass it on to the next generation of culinary leaders.
“Not everybody’s cut out for this, I get that. But it’s our responsibility and sort of obligation to help the next generation along,” Beckenbaugh said. However, until the next generation takes over, Beckenbaugh will continue to make his mark at CPI.
