Alumnus Wins Food Network Holiday Baking Contest

Adam Monette of St. Albans, Vermont, was named the winner of the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship on December 20, 2021.

Monette, a culinary instructor at Northwest Career and Technical Center (NCTC), competed alongside 12 bakers from across the country to win $25,000 and a feature in Food Network Magazine. He is a graduate of Vermont Tech’s Career and Technical Teacher Education Program.

In the two-hour season finale, Monette participated in two rounds of competition. In the preliminary “Preheat” round, he was challenged to create a dessert charcuterie board. In the “Main Heat” final, the top three contestants were asked to create holiday party-themed cakes. To clinch the win, Monette created a “Gift Wrapping Party”-style cake filled with layers of chocolate and peanut butter icing that incorporated real holiday lights.

At NCTC, Monette teaches skills in food service, baking and pastry, and restaurant management in the center’s culinary arts program.

“He has so much knowledge to impart to his students and those around him. He holds himself to incredibly high standards and expects the same from his students,” said Leeann Wright, NCTC’s director.

The Career & Technical Teacher Education Program (CTTEP) at Vermont Tech is part of the process for industry and business professionals to earn a Vermont State teaching license and to learn the art of teaching high school students in one of Vermont’s 17 career and technical centers. The program is designed to help new technical educators, through coursework and coaching, to become experts not only in their professional field of training, but as individuals sharing their skills by teaching.

Learn more about the Career & Technical Teacher Education Program.

Read more about Monette’s win in the St. Alban’s Messenger.

Remembering Byron Angell

Byron H. Angell, age 92, passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021. Byron was a long-time professor at Vermont Technical College, and ultimately Department Head of Electromechanical Engineering Technology. The photo to the right is from the 1971 VTC yearbook.

Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced by the Boardway and Cilley Funeral Home in Chelsea, Vermont.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Susan Angell Enos scholarship at Vermont Tech. A scholarship that was created by the Angells in memory of their daughter, a 1973 graduate of the Architectural and Building Technology program at Vermont Tech.