American Culinary Federation Partners With Foodservice Educators Learning Community To Offer Enhanced Educational Opportunities At 2011 Acf Events

The American Culinary Federation (ACF), the nation's largest organization of professional chefs, is pleased to announce its partnership with Charleston, S.C.-based Foodservice Educators Learning Community (FELC) to deliver the 2011 Educator Development Series at ACF's Events Series, which includes four regional conferences and a national convention taking place in Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio; New Orleans; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Dallas.

"Continuing education is one of the cornerstones of the American Culinary Federation, so enhancing the Educator Development Series offered at our annual events is a step toward better serving our members and culinary professionals," said Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, ACF national president. "Foodservice Educators Learning Community is an established organization that has hosted continuing education seminars for more than 15 years. We look forward to working with them in 2011."

ACF's four regional conferences and national convention offer chefs and other foodservice professionals an opportunity to network, keep abreast of the latest culinary trends and compete. Chef educators attend ACF's Educator Development Series to learn the latest educational methods and to remain current on important industry topics. The series also provides needed educational hours for ACF's 14-tiered certification program.

In 2011, the series will consist of three two-hour sessions, including lunch, designed to develop teacher training in education foundations and practical teaching strategies. The classes presented will be based on the Principles & Methods of Teaching for Foodservice Educators certificate offered by FELC. This certificate includes learning theory, curriculum development, instructional design, course assessment, practical examples of structuring labs and lectures, teaching special needs students, lesson plan development and shared best practices of classroom management. At each conference, educators can add interactive workshops that will guide them through extra course materials, best practice sessions and the homework required to complete any one of the eight modules in FELC's certificate.

"The greatest benefit of this partnership is that it offers chef educators an opportunity to develop their teaching skills through a shared culinary learning community represented by ACF and FELC members," said Michael Carmel, CEC, CCE, executive director of culinary education, Foodservice Educators Learning Community. "The seminars will generate thought provoking ideas for classroom or culinary lab educators, and attendees will have the opportunity to begin or continue their steps to dual certification."

Each Educator Development Series costs $125. In addition, FELC will waive its $50 membership fee that is required to participate in its certificate program for all educators in attendance.

The 2011 Educator Development Series dates are:
� ACF Southeast Regional Conference: Feb. 17, 2011, Hilton Atlanta, Atlanta
� ACF Northeast Regional Conference: March 19, 2011, Columbus Renaissance, Columbus, Ohio
� ACF Central Regional Conference: April 16, 2011, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans
� ACF Western Regional Conference: April 28, 2011, Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz.
� ACF National Convention: July 21, 2011, Gaylord Texan, Dallas

For more information about ACF's 2011 Events Series and the Educator Development Series, visit www.acfchefs.org/events.

About the American Culinary Federation
The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 22,000 members spanning 230 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, app