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THE UNINTENDED TEACHER

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GEMS

GEMS

photos and story by Amy Barnes

His plan did not include becoming a teacher. When Tony Stanislo graduated from Polaris Career Center in Middleburg Heights, his plan was to work at multiple free-standing restaurants and then open his own.

“I thought I was going to be a chef/owner someday,” said Stanislo.

As a child, Stanislo had been fascinated with watching his father and grandmothers cook. While he loved cooking, Stanislo did not realize it could be an actual job and he could make a living doing it.

He still remembers the day he learned that cooking could be a career.

“I remember being shocked by it,” Stanislo said. That was when he decided what his life’s path would be and, with help of his high school principal, he got into the culinary program at Polaris.

On graduation, he worked at various free-standing restaurants until landing a job as a sous chef at Harvey Corvairs in the Caxton Building on Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland.

Stanislo was very comfortable at Corvairs, which specialized in modern French cuisine. His coworkers were all highly talented, which made for a relaxed camaraderie among them.

“We were all friends,” Stanislo said, adding that they all have remained friends and maintain contact. That was when his life and career took a sudden turn, and it all started with a phone call.

The call was from one of his former teachers at Polaris. She wanted Stanislo to meet her at the Medina County Career Center to visit their culinary program. It was not until he arrived that he found out it was a job interview of sorts.

His former teacher already had paved the way and had highly recommended him to the MCCC administration to be the new head of the program.

Stanislo was only 25 years old at the time. He took a week to think about it. Weighing into his decision was the financial stability that the teaching position offered as compared to being a chef/owner.

“It was a good family move,” Stanislo said about Chef Tony Stanislo is proud of his students' accomplishments. Last year, students Angie Dobson, Landon Morris, and Cheyenne Nichols won second at the national level of the FCCLA competition in California.

accepting the offer.

So it was that the man who had no aspirations to be a teacher, became the bigger than life head of MCCC’s Chef and Restaurant Management program. He became known to his students and others in the community as Chef Tony, an energetic, demanding, fiercely dedicated teacher and chef who insisted on excellence. He said he and his wife, Kim, made an agreement early on. The character “Chef Tony” stays at school; at home, he is just Tony. It has been a successful arrangement as they have been happily married for 21 years, Stanislo said.

Stanislo has now led the program for 20 years, never taking off a day for illness until the last week of February of this year.

“To be able to inspire kids for this many years is awesome,” he said, adding that every year’s batch of students is different.

His appreciation and amazement are evident when he talks about how the restaurant was operated during his illness and weeklong absence by his students and two aides, Lori Dominguez, who has worked with him for approximately 15 years, and Sara Peterson, who graduated from Stanislo’s program in 2014 and has been working with him for two years.

“They still ran the restaurant, and they did amazing!” he said.

He has no input over which students enter the program. He is given a student roster in July, when the students come in for uniform fitting for the upcoming school year. The junior year in the program costs $350 and covers the uniforms and a knife set for each student. Senior year, the cost drops to $200.

He gets very excited when he talks about something special he is able to procure for the students to work on. Recently, it was 12-pound salmon. Each student was given a salmon to break down, not something that is usually available. Stanislo’s eyes light up when he talks about the size of the fish and the opportunity his students were given.

“If it wasn’t for the support of our board of education, our superintendent and our administration, the program wouldn’t thrive the way it does,” said Stanislo.

Despite living in North Olmsted, Stanislo arrives at MCCC between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. every school day in order to prep for the students’ arrival. He enjoys traveling country roads between the school and home, even though he only has ever lived in cities. “I absolutely enjoy it. The worst part is any time there’s snow, I get the drifts (on the road),” Stanislo said.

As he grew up, he was surrounded by a big extended family, thanks to his parents, Connie and Tim Stanislo’s large families. He enjoyed a lot of family time.

The big family gatherings are no longer common because family members have scattered and lives became busy. His immediate family consists of his wife, who is a professor in the nursing program at Ashland University, and three children, 17-year-old Jonathan, 13-year-old Sarah and 11-year-old Caroline.

continued, Page 6 A caricature of Stanislo; last year's competitive culinary team; and, in the upper right-hand corner, Lori Dominguez, who has been Stanislo's teaching aide for approximately 15 years, hangs in The Center Cafe.

Perhaps it is because of his formative years being so much about the bond of family that he enjoys the family bond that each of his classes graduate with, a bond he explains is forged through celebrations of doing amazing things and working under stress.

Another bond Stanislo enjoys is the one he shares with other chefs. He says that all chefs in Medina get along with each other, support each other, and never hesitate to help each other.

“I have a graduate in almost every free-standing restaurant in Medina,” Stanislo said.

Chef Ryan Merino, owner/chef of the Corkscrew Saloon, located fewer than 2 miles from MCCC, was a junior in MCCC’s culinary program when Stanislo became the head of the program, said Stanislo.

In the same class as Merino was Melissa Khourey, the owner of Saucisson, a butcher shop in Cleveland’s Slavic Village.

Merino has subbed for Stanislo at MCCC, and they have often helped each other out, including trading ingredients when one has an unexpected shortage. Stanislo said Merino does a lot of good behind the scenes, including hiring MCCC culinary program graduates.

“He’s so good for the community,” Stanislo said. The Center Cafe, known as The Four Seasons prior to Stanislo’s arrival, provides real-world experience for students in a structured, learning environment where they are closely monitored for professionalism and skill. Juniors work 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., and seniors work in the café from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Tips earned when waiting tables are pooled into a class club account that is used to benefit all of the students.

With the tips, the students have been able to able to pay for their own field trips, class T-shirts and sweatshirts, duffle bags, and water bottles, which are essential for working in the hot kitchen.

“It’s a great real-world experience for the kids,” Stanislo said.

That does not, however, mean there have not been some injuries over the years. No matter how much safety is stressed or how supervised students are, when mixing teenagers, knives and fire, there are bound to be some occurrences that result in a variety of injuries.

“I’ve seen some interesting cuts over the years,” Stanislo said.

This year’s program has 22 juniors and 17 seniors. Stanislo said the program enrollment is down a little from previous years. There are usually 24 students in each grade level.

Seventy-five percent of the senior class is ServSafe certified. ServSafe is a certification program that offers training in safe handling of food and alcohol. The certification makes those who have earned it more employable because every food service establishment must have a ServSafe certified employee present during all hours of operation. While Stanislo is not the chef/owner he once planned to be, he has proven time and again he has what it takes to make a culinary program successful. In the process, he also became the regional coordinator at Lorain Community College for the Family Commmunity Career Leaders of America, known as FCCLA, which is a family and consumerscience based organization.

Stanislo was named an honorary National Honor continued from Page 5

Society member by the MCCC’s National Technical Honor Society Chapter. In 2018, Stanislo was named the Cleveland chapter of the American Culinary Federation Chef Educator of the Year, and in 2019, The Center Café was named the Taste of Medina People’s Choice Award winner and the 2019 Elite 50 Culinary Programs.

“Not bad for a bunch of kids and an old man,” Stanislo says, with a big grin.

Also not bad for a former Rocky River high school student who had to get special permission from his principal to attend the culinary program at Polaris. Stanislo was inducted into the Polaris Hall of Fame in 2005. He was the first inductee into the hall.

In 2019, three of Stanislo’s students, Angie Dobson, Landon Morris and Cheyenne Nichols, all seniors, fulfilled a promise they had made a year before when they did not make it past FCCLA regionals. They vowed they would make it to nationals in 2019. Stanislo, using reverse psychology, told his students not to do anything that would make him have to travel. When they won first at the state level, he knew they were going to be traveling to Anaheim, California. It was the first time that Stanislo had a group make it to the national level of competition. Thirty-four other states competed; the Medina group won second place.

“It was very cool, they were probably one of the most driven groups I’ve ever had,” he said.

Another annual endeavor for the students is the From the Heart Scholarship Dinner held in February, which raises money for scholarships.

This was the 19th year for the dinner, which has raised a total of $165,000 that has been awarded in scholarships to 80 recipients over the years. This year, they hosted a total of 235 guests in three separate seatings, raising approximately $11,000 for the scholarship fund.

Diners get a four-course meal for $50. In addition to the meal, there were raffle baskets donated by vendors and restaurants from all over Northeastern Ohio, as well as silent auction items. The silent auction items raised an additional $2,000.

One of the auction items was a four-course meal to be cooked by Stanislo, with wine provided by Merino. Since no students will be serving the meal, wine can be served.

When it comes to benefiting his students, Stanislo

Stanislo relaxes in his office. At the top, left, is a row of chef's hats he has collected over the years. Each hat is signed by that year's senior students.

does not hesitate to ask for donations. He said if it were just him, he would never mention his awards, but he has learned to use the awards he and the students have won to prove the value of the program in order to get more donations.

“I have no shame because it’s for the kids,” Stanislo said.

If you are interested in donating to the program or to its auctions or raffles, call Tony Stanislo at 330-725- 8461, Extension 229, or e-mail tstanislo@mcjvs.edu He will be delighted to hear from you.

Enjoying a very short break during cafe hours were, from left, Troy Morcus, Nadia Deyling, teaching aide Lori Dominguez (standing), Aaron Houchins, Andrew Shearer, Justen Isenhart, Olivia Mitchell (standing), and Roger Neil.

The Center Cafe patrons enjoy a meal made and served by the culinary program students.

The Center Café is open 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is located inside of the Medina County Career Center at 1101 W. Liberty Street, Medina. Reserva�ons are suggested and can be made by calling 330-721-0229. Call ahead and carry-out orders are welcomed.

At press �me, the café had been temporarily closed due to concerns regarding coronavirus COVID-19. Please call to confirm it is open before going.

Sam Hornick at work in the cafe kitchen.

From left, Aaron Houchins, Andrew Shearer, Sylas Depp, Michael Stropki, and Anthony Santivasci

From left, Nick Monaco, Christian LoPiccolo and Timothy Chapin

On the left, from the front of the table, back: Noah Gillilard, Rafael Wilson and Troy Morcus On the right, from the back of the table, forward: Madison Peaco, Nadia Deyling, Olivia Mitchell, Roger Neil, and Justen Isenhart

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