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Jennifer Grant and Daija Reynolds have much more than one thing in common.

Both of the mother-daughter duo are students in the Culinary Arts Technology Department at ������ Vicksburg-Warren Campus, both want to own a bakery and both are among an elite group of students who are charter members in the 42-year-old campus’ first National Technical Honor Society chapter.

The induction ceremony for eight students, seven in Culinary and one in Industrial Maintenance, was Wednesday, April 26, on the Vicksburg Campus.

Guest speaker chef William Furlong, the current manager of Newk’s Eatery on Pemberton Boulevard, encouraged the students to work hard to reach their goals.

That’s exactly what Grant, 38, and Reynolds, 19, plan to do. Each has said she wants to team with the other after school to open and own a wedding cake bakery, and both said they enrolled in the Culinary Arts Department to better their chances of following their dream.

Dean Marvin Moak offered his congratulations to the students and the local chapter.

“I am tickled to have this organization on this campus and I commend the advisers and the students who are participating in the prestigious organization,” he said.

The other culinary students inducted into the society are Barbara Evans, Robert Davis, Robert Nelson, Daja Shears-Williams and American Johnson. The Industrial Maintenance inductee is Austin House.

NTHS was established in 1984 in South Carolina for outstanding career and technical students of workforce vocational educational institutions in the United States. It serves more than 3,800 high schools and colleges in all 50 states.

The organization’s goals are to honor achievements of leading career and technical education students, to provide scholarships and cultivate excellence in today’s skilled workforce.

NTHS works with other career-technical student organizations of which Hinds is a member.

Matthew Campbell, department chair for the Culinary Arts Technology Department on the Vicksburg Campus, said he has nothing but praise for all of the students who have chosen to pursue membership in the society.

“Each and every one of them has worked hard, and this is payoff,” he said.

He pointed out that several of the inductees, who are among the 40 students in the program, had come to the department after being out of school for up to 25 years, one is an Army veteran who served in Iraq and one is a security guard on campus who was encouraged by his environment to take classes.

The technical degree in culinary arts requires three semesters of class and kitchen work, and day and night classes are available. Students can earn an associate’s degree with an additional semester of study.

The sponsor for the new chapter is Rhonda Dorsey, coordinator of the campus’ Workforce Development Program.

“One of the goals of NTHS is to see that deserving technical students are recognized,” Dorsey said. “Career and technical employees are the backbone of our country’s workforce.”

 

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������ is celebrating its 100^th year of Community Inspired Service in 2017. Hinds opened in September 1917 first as an agricultural high school and admitted college students for the first time in 1922, with the first class graduating in 1927. In 1982 Hinds Junior College and Utica Junior College merged, creating the ������ District. Today, as Mississippi’s largest community college, ������ is a comprehensive institution with six locations. Hinds offers quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills. To learn more, visit or call 1.800.HindsCC.