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106 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 C h e f Ly n a e R a d k e BY MACON MAGAZINE STAFF At the helm S ince 2011, Helms College, sponsored by Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia, has been attracting and retaining culinary talent in Central Georgia, cultivating rewarding career paths for creatives in our region and beyond. Helms' priority is "the long-term success of our students, not only with their education, but also with their career goals," said Chef David Cooper, Culinary Arts Program and Campus Manager on the Macon campus. "There are students who have opened their own restaurants, manage high-end bakeries and kitchens, and even some like our very own Chef Radke who have found themselves in a culinary education career," Cooper continued. We caught up with Radke to learn more about her story. Chef Radke, what can you tell us about your history with Helms College? My Helms story began in 2016 as a diploma program student. Soon after graduating, I returned as the program director's teaching assistant, helping to run Edgar's Bistro, teaching front of house in the mornings and back of house in the evenings while also working at Grits part-time in Forsyth. During that time, I discovered my first day in the kitchen, I fell in love. I knew that being a chef was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Over the next few years, I worked in a few different restaurants in Macon, worked with some amazing chefs, worked my way up to being the executive chef of Middle Georgia State University, and finally found my home here at Helms. Tell us about your experience at Helms. What courses or interactions impacted you most? The International course opened my eyes to so many flavor profiles, ingredients, and cooking techniques I had never worked with before. The instructors themselves were the most impactful. They really took me under their wing and helped me to see my inner potential. Having seasoned chefs see something in me when I was just starting out was motivating. I took parts of each of them to hone myself into the instructor that I'm now able to be for my own students. passion for teaching. In 2018, I enrolled to finish my associate degree specifically to become an instructor. I bided my time until an instructor position became available. In 2022, I finally got the call, and I've been with Helms ever since. How did you get started in the culinary field? Before Helms, I'd never stepped foot in a professional kitchen. I'd been obsessed with cooking from a very young age, but I didn't imagine that I could be happy working a hot and sweaty kitchen. Still, I watched Food Network constantly. I learned so much from the chefs on TV and always dreamed of my own cooking show. After having my son in 2014, taking a year off to be a mom, and a brief stint of co-owning a boutique thrift store in Downtown Macon, I was ready to get back to work. While I was making dinner one night, my son's father was on a laptop helping me job search. Little did I know, he was actually looking up culinary schools, and he found Helms. I scheduled my tour a few days later, enrolled that same day, and after my