Penn College harvests attention at Pennsylvania Farm Show

The surgical technology program offers a hands-on peek at laparoscopic surgery and the tools of the operating room. (Photo by Elizabeth S. Gizenski, director of surgical technology)

These future Wildcats – the children of Elizabeth S. Gizenski, director of surgical technology – strike a pose with the mascot. (Photo by Elizabeth S. Gizenski)

The Penn College Clean Energy Center’s insulation exhibit invites visitors to use an infrared camera to detect heat loss caused by missing insulation. (Photo by Dawn M. Snyder, building science trainer for the Clean Energy Center-Harrisburg)

Graduates and their guests stop by the college’s magnet-making station. (Photo by Dawn M. Snyder)

Another alumni family shows off its Penn College pride. (Photo by Jess McLaughlin, regional admissions coordinator/partnership development specialist)

Roy H. Klinger (on right), instructor of collision repair, shows future leaders how to make a bowl from sheet metal. (Photo by Jess McLaughlin)

Another alumni photo op with the Wildcat (or a reasonable facsimile …)! (Photo by Jess McLaughlin)

Ben Billingham (left), sous chef for The Mill in Hershey, banters with his stage assistant, culinary arts technology student Emma J. Turner, of Lincoln University. Billingham demonstrated veal Salisbury steak. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Offering a demonstration of veal Bolognese, 2019 Penn College graduate Bridget Callahan, now executive chef of Savona in Gulph Mills, gets Charlie M. Suchanec (center), a student and Le Jeune Chef chef de partie, and Luke C. Whipple, a culinary arts technology student from Shamokin Dam, in on the action. Callahan was a Culinary Connection stage volunteer during her student days. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Callahan with her finished dish (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Chef Kristina Wisneski, a 2013 Penn College graduate and former Farm Show volunteer for the college, shows her completed dish …

… red wine braised short ribs with farro and Brussels sprouts. Wisneski is a chef for Pure Roots Provisions in King of Prussia and a Food Network “Chopped” champion. (Photos by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Callahan and Wisneski return to the stage for the “Thermador Chefs Challenge,” which pit the alumni against one another. They were assisted by Harrisburg news personalities from ABC 27 and CBS 21. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Chef Mike Dinan, executive chef for Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, engages the audience during the first of two demonstrations. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Dinan’s first dish: Jagerschnitzel with hunter sauce, braised cabbage and stone-ground mustard potato hash. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Alisha Howell, a 2012 baking and pastry arts graduate and owner of Lynn Sandy’s Bakery in Scranton, demonstrates a chocolate chip zucchini loaf. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Baking and pastry arts student Jaylynn F. Lewis Dickson, of Philadelphia, grates zucchini for Howell’s sweet recipe. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Chef Michael J. Ditchfield, part-time culinary arts instructor, shows Farm Show visitors how to roast a pepper on the stovetop for his dish: lutenitsa. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Ditchfield employs the help of a young foodie (left), along with Penn College culinary arts students Madi S. Lengel (second from right), of Temple, and Lybbi A. Switzer (right), of Berwick. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

The completed lutenitsa. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

As crowds watch, students take over the stage for the School Cooking Challenge. The event split the Penn College student crew into two teams, provided each with a mystery basket of Pennsylvania ingredients and challenged each team to develop and prepare a dish for judges – all in 30 minutes. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Celebrity Chef Jet Tila takes a closer look at the work of students Luke C. Whipple, of Shamokin Dam, and Libby A. Switzer, of Berwick. Tila is a Food Network star, cookbook author and restaurateur who provided several Culinary Connection stage demonstrations and judged the Penn College School Cooking Challenge. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Baking & pastry arts student Ally A. Colon, of Philadelphia, seasons her team’s dish. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Students execute their dishes while judges – seated on stage – watch their work. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

The student teams flank Tila (center), along with the other School Cooking Challenge judges (including Howell, far right) and their Farm Show mentors: Dinan and Ditchfield (standing third and fourth from left), Chef Brett M. Bertin (fourth from right), chef de cuisine for Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, and Suchanec (third from right). (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Switzer works alongside Chef Terrell Allan, representing FarmerJawn, a 128-acre farm that is reintroducing farming into the lifestyles of urban people. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)

Dinan squeezes a lime for pork chili verde. (Photo by Kat Kuo for the PA Preferred Culinary Connection)