In anticipation of the new 35,000-square-foot, $42 Million Performing Arts Center and Culinary Institute being on the brink of completion, Woodland Community College has hired full-time culinary arts instructor Chef Paschell Wilson to lead the new program slated to start in 2024.
According to a WCC press release, Chef Wilson brings more than two decades of experience in the culinary industry to the Woodland-based college located on East Gibson Road. She is scheduled to begin teaching classes in the new Culinary Arts facility and Café in the spring of 2024.
Wilson rounds out the new offerings at the college. Earlier this year, former Woodland High School music instructor Bobby Rogers was named to head up the music program.
According to Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay, Wilson has extensive training and experience in the private sector and educational institutions.
“She has served in various capacities, including café director, food service manager, executive chef
and culinary instructor,” Bandyopadhyay stated. “She also brings extensive experience building
partnerships with local businesses.”
She has served in the following positions in the most recent times:
- Food services director, Salvation Army, Nevada City, California
- Culinary arts instructor and Café director, Tohono O’odham Community College,
Sells, Arizona - Café director & culinary instructor, Perspectives, Inc, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
She also joins Chef Rob Cabreros, who has served as a culinary arts instructor for the Yuba College District for the last 20 years. Cabreros works out of the Lake County Campus for the Yuba Community College District.
“He does an outstanding job running the culinary program and Aroma Café with his students at our Lake County Campus,” stated Bandyopadhyay. “Chef Wilson will be working closely with Chef Cabreros as we open our state-of-the-art culinary facility at our Woodland campus.”
In spring 2024, Chef Wilson will be teaching the following courses:
- Sanitation and Safety (CUL-54)
- Basic Food Preparation (CUL-76A)
- Introduction to Restaurant Management (CUL-77A).
Registration for Spring 2024 courses is now open. The course offerings will expand in Fall 2024 to include baking and other aspects of culinary arts.
The 35,000-square-foot Performing Arts Center and Culinary Institute, where Wilson will instruct, is scheduled for a soft opening in early January and a more formal opening in April.
When it opens, the multi-story structure facility will house a 450-seat theater with classroom spaces to expand Theatre Arts, Music, 2D Arts, Agriculture and Culinary Services.
According to Dave Willis, district director of facilities, planning, maintenance, and operations for Yuba Community College, this is the first major building project at Woodland College since the second large greenhouse was constructed in 2016. Before that, in 2007-2008, Building 800 went up.
Construction started in March 2022. The $42 million building comes from the voter-approved Measure J and Measure Q. In addition, voters in the Yuba Community College District approved a $190 million facilities measure in 2006 to help modernize existing facilities and expand the academic footprint of the college, according to a WCC press release.
Half of the construction funding comes from the State of California in matching funds through Proposition 51, a bond measure to improve and expand facilities for public educational institutions.