Personally, I am grateful for the wonderful profession we find ourselves in...that of linking the foodservice classrooms with the foodservice industry.  We do this every day in our educational facilities as well as by our examples.

All of the instructors that I work with are dedicated people who I have had the privilege of helping in various ways throughout the year.

This Thanksgiving I wish to recognize all of you plus our sponsors who help our CAFÉ team put together events, a website, and a magazine all with the intent of helping instructors keep up to date and connected with the resources that are available.

In addition, I am grateful for an amazing number of Awards that we have available for 2015...all of which recognize the strength of a teacher, a program, and an idea.

	The Idaho Potato Commission and its annual Innovation Award recognizes programs and/or individuals who have designed a part of their program to be something different or something bigger than what was required.
	The CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award is an exciting boost each year to the many programs who have reached out to farmers or to new markets or to methods that all help us teach in a more sustainable fashion.
	The (new) Sysco Educator of the Year Award is designed to recognize that individual who has gone above and beyond in their thinking, their energy, their devotion to foodservice education.
	The (new) Unilever Foodsolutions Contest is recognizing that healthful food preparation is here to stay and we should recognize someone who can re-engineer a familiar recipe and then write a Lesson Plant to help other teachers with that same goal.

Go to www.CafeMeetingPlace.com to get the full lowdown on all of these Awards as well as our upcoming Deans and Directors Retreat in February.

You deserve to be recognized and you always deserve to be thanked...on a national holiday or any day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mary Petersen