Grand Pastry Buffet Unites Scholarship Recipients With Donors

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Keystone Dining Room hosted a grand celebration of scholarship, skill and generosity during the April 30 Grand Pastry Buffet and Scholarship Reception.

While baking and pastry arts students displayed some of their final works before graduation, students who have received scholarships met those who established the funds from which they benefited. The Penn College Foundation provides more than 200 scholarships.



“Being someone who is mechanically inclined and very hands-on, Penn College is a perfect fit. The book work is there, but when I can apply what I have learned and see it in action, it clicks. … My Penn College experience has been far from boring, and it was made possible through the scholarships that I have received,” said Johnathan T. Capps, a mechatronics engineering technology student who offered remarks on behalf of scholarship recipients. “It is not only a testament to hard work, but it allows me to be able to focus more on school and gaining knowledge needed to succeed than having to figure out how I am going to pay for it.”

Capps, of North Wales, received the college’s Society of Manufacturing Engineers Chapter 49 Scholarship and Presidential Scholarship.

“Alumni, retirees, corporate partners and friends of the college who establish and support scholarships can often provide the additional support a student needs to make it to graduation, not just for the obvious financial reasons, but also for the encouragement that being selected to receive a scholarship can provide,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said.

The setting for the reception, a decorative and delectable dessert buffet, is planned by students in a Pastry Food Show and Buffet Presentation Concepts course. In making desserts and edible centerpieces, the students, who are in their final semester of the major, apply skills used in classes throughout their associate-degree coursework.

Baking and pastry arts students who prepared the buffet are: Jeffrey L. Bretz, of Williamsport; Courtney K. Brown, of Hanover; Amanda R. D'Apuzzo, of Morganville, New Jersey; Stephenie F. Everson, of Lewisburg; Hannah L. Kegerreis, Pittsburgh; Victoria R. Krauter, of Royersford; Jacqueline Lyden, of Kunkletown; Brittany L. Mink, of Allentown; Seriana A. Nitcznski, of Dushore; Christina M. Ohlin, of Dillsburg; Kasey M. Powell, of Mount Union; Alyssa T. Rummel, of Ephrata; Hannah D. Runtas, of Williamsport; Cory R. Smith, of Brick, New Jersey; Krista A. Swinehart, of Northumberland; Dylan H. Therrien, of Reading; and Kori A. Treaster, of Lewistown.

– Photos by Jennifer A. Cline, writer/editor-One College Avenue

 

A sugar-art centerpiece by Jacqueline Lyden, of Kunkletown, highlights the buffet’s spring garden theme.

A selection of desserts by Stephenie F. Everson, of Lewisburg

A mascarpone-raspberry parfait by Victoria R. Krauter, of Royersford

A sculpted cake, a group project by the class, anchors the buffet.

A raspberry torte by Kori A. Treaster, of Lewistown, waits to be served.

An edible showpiece by Cory R. Smith, of Brick, N.J.

Desserts by Alyssa T. Rummel, of Ephrata: blood orange dark chocolate truffle (foreground) and lemon macaron with blackberry filling

One of two table groupings, prepared by baking and pastry arts graduates.

Johnathan T. Capps, a scholarship recipient and a mechatronics engineering technology student from North Wales, speaks on behalf of students who have received scholarships through the Penn College Foundation.