PERRYSBURG – After dining on a selection of hors d’oeuvres prepared by culinary arts students, the
Penta Career Center Board of Education heard career aspirations from one of the program’s graduates.Every
December, culinary arts prepares a selection of small dishes for board members. This year’s selection
included turkey and sun-dried tomato roll ups, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil skewers, wonton cups with
sausage and ranch, wonton cups with spinach, lobster shooters, an apple bacon fritter, cranberry molasses
cake and chocolate pot de creme, among others.Beverages included a cranberry basil sparker and white
peppermint hot chocolate.Board President Robert Righi said in the 10 year he’s been on the board, this
year’s food selection was the best yet.The meeting was held Wednesday.John Morgan Smith, a graduate of
Penta’s culinary arts program and Anthony Wayne High School, is now executive sous chef on a 52-meter
private yacht and has sailed to 10 countries.Smith, 20, is also a graduate of the Culinary School of
America, where he found this job through a posting on a CIA job site.He fixes meals for the 14 crew members
as well as all guests.He’s served Rocky Mountain oysters (bull testicles), camel, ostrich, zebra and even
horse meat depending on guests’ preferences.He said the yacht can be chartered for $300,000 a week, and the
tip minimum is $60,000.He is heading to Fort Lauderdale next week for one month in the Bahamas followed by a
year on the East Coast.Smith said he thinks he’ll continue what he’s doing for 10 years then become a
private celebrity chef."And it all started here," said Righi.Smith said about Penta, "Once
you graduate from here you feel confident."The board also learned that the culinary arts’ Around the
World in Eight Plates, an annual scholarship dinner, had 105 guests, twice as many as last year, and raised
$5,000 for a scholarship fund for the students.A silent auction raised $4,700 to benefit the Hirzel
Scholarship Fund which provides qualifying Penta seniors with scholarships towards post-secondary tuition
and/or tools needed for employment."This is getting big, really big," said Chef Janea Makowski,
senior culinary instructor."The whole night was about the kids."Superintendent Ron Matter also
reported the a transformer blew out Tuesday, affecting all power in the north wing which holds automotive,
floral and small animal care departments.At 5 a.m. Wednesday, that wing was still without power, but was
restored just before 8 a.m.He said for the rest of the week a generator would be rented until the
transformer could be replaced. He estimated the cost would be $40,000 to $50,000.Jeff Kurtz, high school
director, said all flowers were moved from the cold, small animals went home with students, and automotive
students bundled up.Board members Joe Rutherford and Paul Walker wanted to know what would happen if anyone
challenged the qualifications of newly-appointed board members.Five new members must be appointed by their
respective boards by Jan. 15, as outlined in House Bill 59, which requires that joint vocational school
district board members be replaced with representatives from business and industry.Matter said Penta has no
recourse if the new member is not qualified."There’s kind of an open loop in this," said
Rutherford.Matter said that’s why he is having every appointing board fill out a Memo of Understanding
listing qualifications.Area educational entities now represented on the Penta board that has to appoint a
new representative include Maumee City Schools, Rossford Schools, the Educational Service Center of Lake
Erie West, North Point Educational Service Center, and the Wood County Educational Service Center.The board
also accepted retirement requests from Claire Achen, CBI intervention specialist, effective Aug. 29, 2014;
Janet Buck, small animal care instructor, effective May 30, 2014; and Annette Norland, family and consumer
sciences instructor, effective June 30, 2014.