The Parchment Paper

Tracey Vukalovich was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and now resides in Southern California. She studied at Sydney University, graduating in 1988 majoring in Nutrition Biochemistry and Food Technology. At the age of 24,Tracey began working for an international airline, Qantas Airways, as a Flight Attendant and Cabin Crew Trainer. She left Qantas after being appointed the Australian & New Zealand Executive Training Manager for Fisher Catering Services. With Tracey as training manager, the company expanded to provide food services in many high profile sites including: New Zealand Parliament House,  numerous BHP sites, Antarctic Australian Mining Camp, the elite schools such as Ascham and Scotts in Sydney, along with Channel 10 TV facility in Western Australia, amongst other high profile clients. Also during this time Tracey spearheaded the companies bid for ISO9001 series Quality Assurance through Lloyd’s Register of London. Tracey also worked for Gardner Merchant/Sedexo Australia and was involved in the training of Hospitality personnel in key locations such as Flemington Raceway, Myers cafes, the Bennelong Restaurant and Concourse Cafes at the Sydney Opera House, in a National Training role. After relocating she then worked for the Illawarra Institute of Technology, the leading provider of vocational education and training in the Illawarra region, as a Hospitality Management Travel & Tourism lecturer for a decade. Her passion for quality Hospitality Education has forged its way throughout her career. She is currently a working mother of three beautiful adolescent children living the Californian dream, working at the Orange School of the Arts.  Chef Vukalovich currently teaches Foundation courses and Safety & Sanitation to our Level 1 students.

Amanda G. Black is a Certified Food Scientist serving up knowledge in Food, Nutrition & Science to Level 3 OSCA students.  She earned her Bachelor of Science in Food Science from Cal Poly, SLO where she also served as an elected representative for the College of Agriculture.  She is currently studying for her Master’s in Education and is extremely excited to join the Culinary Arts & Hospitality conservatory.  Having worked in the food industry for nearly ten years, Amanda got her start in the Quality department of a beverage flavor manufacturing plant in south Orange County.  She then worked in the R&D department of a juice concentrates manufacturer developing products for vending machine drinks in California schools, frozen treats, and nutritional beverages.  This was followed by the quality department at Cargill, one of the largest cooking oil and shortening manufacturers in the U.S.  While working at Cargill for almost 5 years, Amanda served as a member of a special team tasked with troubleshooting a new cross-departmental software system and training employees at two sites.  She currently works in Santa Ana researching and developing gummy vitamins from concept to full scale production.  Amanda is responsible for nearly 10 new kid and adult gummy vitamins this year.