A Tuscola County educator known for his dedication to culinary education has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.
The award winner, Bob Zehnder, is a culinary arts teacher with the Tuscola Intermediate School District. Zehnder says the chance to help the next generation of culinary artists is what drove him to pursue a career change to education. Affectionately known as “Chef Bob,” seeing his students blossom and want to learn drives Zehnder to be a better teacher. Zehnder was nominated for the award by a colleague, who commended Zehnder on his commitment to high standards, hands-on mentorship and his willingness to work side by side with his students.
In addition to his talents as a teacher, the colleague also noted that Zehnder is a Certified Executive Chef and a Certified Culinary Educator, who was a finalist last year for the Culinary Educator of the Year Award at the American Culinary Federation (ACF) National Convention. Not only that, but “Chef Bob” has led his students to many achievements, such as a first-place finish at Disney’s Cook Around the World competition and one student making it all the way to the National SkillsUSA convention, finishing in the top 15 in the nation.
Zehnder earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from Ferris State University, and is currently pursuing a second master’s degree at Ferris State University. He has worked in education for 11 years, all of them in his current position.
The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year. Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
