Chef William-Allen Peterson Culinary Arts Foundation

05/29/2026

Chef Will’s Foundation Partners with SkillsUSA Supporting National Culinary Arts Student Medalists – 2026 Championships Atlanta, GA.

Chef Will’s Foundation was created to recognize, nurture and promote public school culinary arts student excellence with a career focus. We are very proud of our 2025 and 2026 partnership with SkillsUSA to support culinary arts student state champion competitors in both high-school and college/post-secondary divisions at the 2026 SkillsUSA Championships June 1-5 at the World Congress Center in Atlanta.

We express sincere gratitude to our donors, contributors, sponsors and partners for making this culinary arts student development initiative with SkillsUsa possible.

The SkillsUSA Championships is the premier showcase of America’s most highly skilled career and technical education students. It’s also one of the largest hands-on workforce development events in the world. Held in conjunction with SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference each June, this awe-inspiring event features more than 6,800 state champions from across the United States competing head-to-head in 115 skilled and leadership competitions.

The Chef William-Allen Peterson Culinary Arts Foundation wishes all the state student champion competitors the best of luck next week in the National Championships!

“Perfection is all the little things done well…Excellence is the relentless pursuit of perfection.”


Matthew Peterson Pamela J. Bergeret
Charlottesville City Schools CATEC High School Zwilling USA

05/22/2026

Jacques Pepin Foundation Donation of Classic Cooking Books to Chef William-Allen Peterson Culinary Arts Foundation Cooking Loan Library


Virginia ProStart

05/21/2026

Merci Beaucoup Jacque Pépin Foundation!

We are extremely grateful to Jennifer Quigley Harris, Partnership and Engagement Director and the Jacques Pépin Foundation for their kind donation of cooking books to Chef Will’s Foundation cooking books loan library.

These highly regarded classic cooking books by world renowned Chef Jacque Pépin are a welcome addition to the resources Chef Will’s Foundation makes available to teachers in under resourced public school culinary arts programs. These Pépin titles open students’ minds up to Chef Pépins life, culinary journey, recipe development, cooking techniques and his pathway to success as one of the worlds great Chefs!

It is critically important to the development of CTE culinary arts students from underrepresented communities and their teachers to have access to cooking books from the world’s great chefs. Reading inspires students’ imagination, inspiration to learn, growth and lays the foundation for future success as culinary professionals.

Visit the Jacque Pepin Foundation (https://jp.foundation/) note the great work they do across the country supporting community culinary arts training, sign up for their newsletter and take a look at their delicious collection of Jacque Pepin recipes!
Bonne journée



Emeril Lagasse Foundation Guy Fieri Foundation Robert Irvine Foundation Aarón Sánchez James Beard Foundation
World Central Kitchen Virginia ProStart Zwilling USA Charlottesville City Schools

05/16/2026

Fly Fishing & Culinary Stream-to-Fork Adventure Camp Experiences in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains! Fundraisers Benefiting Underserved Public High School Culinary Arts Students…

https://chefwilliampetersonfoundation.org/
https://chefwilliampetersonfoundation.org/fundraising/
https://chefwilliampetersonfoundation.org/donate/

Virginia ProStart

05/16/2026

Fly Fishing & Culinary Stream-to-Fork Adventure Camp Experiences in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains!

Fundraisers Benefiting Underserved Public High School Culinary Arts Students…

Chef Will (and his older brother Matthew Peterson) was a lifelong outdoor sportsman hunter, angler and 4x4 off-road motorhead when he wasn’t in the kitchen cooking. This post includes a nice picture of Will with his mom and Chef Will’s Foundation executive Pamela, fly fishing in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, the summer before entering Johnson & Wales University Charlotte NC Culinary School.

In honor of his enduring legacy and as a means to raise funds for the William-Allen Peterson Culinary Arts Foundation (ChefWill.org) mission, we are planning some banger wine dinner and outdoor adventure culinary experiences in the coming months!

A foundation supporter and diehard fly fisher LL, recommended we pack up the dogs and made a short drive over the mountains through the beautiful Shenandoah National Park to Harrisonburg VA, and the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Shop (mossycreekflyfishing.com). What a baller move, they provided us with friendly, informative conversation and exciting options for Chef Will’s Culinary Adventure Camp Angling Experience fundraising events for 2026-2027.

We talked with Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Brian Trow about creating an all-inclusive two-day guided Fly-Fishing Field and Stream Angling Workshop for a small group of raffle prize winners on acclaimed private spring fed limestone streams for trophy brown, rainbow, or brook trout in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains!

This unique Virginia Culinary Adventure Camp Experience will include a chef inspired elevated “field & stream to fork” dinner featuring fresh delicious artisanally farmed Rainbow trout from Smoke In Chimneys in New Castle and paired wines from Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards in Charlottesville! More on this event soon, as it’s now in the works! The grand prize "field and stream culinay discovery package" includes fresh trout, an awesome Overlander Coffee Travel Kit for java enthusiasts (grind, brew, sip and relax streamside) and more!

Team Mossy Creek Fly Fishing are the go-to professionals for fly fishing Virginia’s spring fed mountain trout streams, and float trips down the Shenandoah and James rivers for Smallmouth Bass and more. Their retail shop is incredible and well worth visiting for EVERYTHING fly fishing! Visit their website at mossycreekflyfishing.com or call them at (540) 434-2444. That PBR sticker is the heat!

SkillsUSA Virginia ProStart

05/13/2026

Culinary Arts Student Alternative Career Paths: Venison Butchery, Processing and Cooking

Chef Will's Foundation (www.ChefWill.org) is a strong advocate for inspired student cooks pursuing alternative professional culinary arts careers. Seasonal wild game processing serving sportsmen is one of many options that pairs especially well with butchery and the growth of artisanal all natural protein farming (e.g. beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish etc.) that supply trendy upscale restaurants!

Where do culinary students find training, well here is a great course from Penn State on vension and if artisanal farming gets them excited look at hands-on intern and apprenticeships at Virginia's all natural Wiffletree Farm (https://whiffletreefarmva.com). Culinary students and grads take note, Wiffletree is hiring and has internship and apprenticeships if learning to become an artisanal farmer appeals to you!

Many culinary arts students from rural communities around the country are active hunters and anglers that developed a love for cooking, just as their suburban and urban youth counterparts. The personal satisfaction of working in the outdoors as an outfitter, hunting or fishing guide, camp cook, or wild game processor is a far cry from the demands of working in a professional kitchen!

Cooking in restaurant and hospitality industries is not the only successful career path for today's culinary arts students. Enjoying where you work, work-life balance, living wages, and job satisfaction should factor into culinary arts student career pathway choices. Student success is led by better informed parents, culinary arts teachers, guidance counselors and administrators.


Chef Gordon Ramsay charity Foundation Jacques Pépin Foundation Emeril Lagasse Foundation Guy Fieri Foundation SkillsUSA Virginia ProStart Compass Group Camp Chef Zwilling USA

https://extension.psu.edu/venison-101-hands-on-butchering-processing-and-cooking?utm_campaign=RCFS__AW__VENISON&utm_source=META&utm_medium=PAID-SOCIAL&fbclid=IwdGRzaARs65tleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqzDskL9I2HNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHsaValOuMjGoTjl9GDtphUVxulTB1MPUd3Y8Qfpcp1OAY9xeXsyjGKMGdqRR_aem_ycpS6YD4xRqpStj-DfavAg&utm_id=120241474502030344&utm_content=120241474502020344&utm_term=120241474502040344&sfnsn=mo

Explore venison processing and cooking in depth with our comprehensive program tailored for hunters seeking to enhance their skills.

04/29/2026

Is Becoming a "Flash-in-the-Pan" Cooking Show Celebrity or Social Media Influencer a Viable Shortcut to Culinary Career Success for Young High School Culinary Arts Students?

Is making up recipes and cooking dishes on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook a better "career move" than learning culinary arts knowledge, skills and abilities while participating in well established, organized ProStart Program, SkillsUSA or FCCLA (fcclainc.org) student workforce readiness programs?

The short answer is....wait for it...wait for it... NO! "There are no shortcuts to success in life". Period full stop! Keeping in mind that success is a journey, not a destination.

For more on leading US career and technical student organizations (CTSO's)
PROSTART (https://lnkd.in/gZxVfJMP)
SKILLSUSA (https://www.skillsusa.org/)
FCCLA (https://fcclainc.org/)

This article is an excellent read and is long on substance!


Chef Gordon Ramsay charity Foundation Mark Cuban Jacques Pépin Foundation Emeril Lagasse Foundation Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Sysco Charlottesville City Schools Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Virginia ProStart SkillsUSA

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/apr/25/lure-of-being-a-social-media-chef-means-youngsters-forgoing-classic-training-michelin-star-cook-warns

Industry figures say that going viral is no replacement for the classic route of apprenticeships and competitions

04/22/2026

Food & Wine - Article
13 Culinary Pros on What's Changed (and Hasn't) for Women in the
Restaurant Industry
https://www.foodandwine.com/women-in-restaurants-11934488

Are female culinary professionals treated differently than their male counterparts in restaurant kitchens? This article from Food and Wine is a good read and discusses the current condition of aspiring and experienced female culinary professionals working in a male dominated restaurant kitchen industry.

Chef Will's Foundation advocates for career technical education (CTE) culinary arts programs to include instruction that addresses real world workplace adult dynamics. In this specific case getting experienced female chefs in front of culinary arts students, honestly yet tactfully discussing the upside and downsides of culinary industry and kitchen life from all perspectives.

Our CAPERS™ programming includes an innovative "Culinary Workplace Readiness" module that informs and prepares adolescents for the realities of working with adults in the culinary industry with several areas of emphasis for young women.

Why should culinary arts students especially young women have to wait and learn lessons about "kitchen natural selection" and the demands of restaurant life the hard way? Let's prepare culinary students to succeed, provide broad industry education and good culinary training. This yields confidence and professionalism with a focus on back-of-the-house careers.

Chef Gordon Ramsay charity Foundation Mark Cuban Jacques Pépin Foundation Emeril Lagasse Foundation Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Charlottesville City Schools Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools SkillsUSA Virginia ProStart

04/16/2026

Career Technical Education Culinary Arts Student Workforce Headwaters...

Chef William-Allen Peterson Culinary Arts Foundation

04/16/2026

Career Technical Education Culinary Arts Student Workforce Headwaters...

At the headwaters of the student culinary arts workforce pipeline in urban and rural communities, is the state CTE curriculum and how effective the school district is in delivering a meaningful course of instruction that delivers on the promise of future employability.

Upon close examination, a number of factors come into play perhaps the most important of which is CTE policy and annually measuring the success or failure of post-graduate student success in the workforce or higher levels of culinary training.

In the next district school board meeting or parent teacher conference parents and community leaders should demand that CTE (all 100+ career pathways) be put on the agenda and ask...

1. How are our student graduates doing in the real world?

2. Are they competitive with their peers locally, regionally and nationally?

3. Where is the data and how is it being used to improve CTE?

4. With respect to the CTE programs at your particular school, what gaps in capabilities have been identified, and how are they being rectified in real time?

5. What resources need to be brought to bear that improve students education quality and success while in Culinary I and Culinary II and avail them to greater opportunities post-graduation?

Here are thoughts from Chef Will's Foundation Education and Training Coordinator Chef Robert Bressan M.Ed. or Mr. "B" as he's fondly referred to by his students
https://chefwilliampetersonfoundation.org/broken-secondary-school-culinary-arts-programs-improving-student-outcomes/

mikeroweWORKS Mark Cuban
Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Chef Gordon Ramsay charity Foundation Charlottesville City Schools Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools CATEC High School SkillsUSA Virginia ProStart Aramark