Meet The Teacher – Chef Ehly

Working for my parents at the age of ten in a family owned business near Dover, PA, I started in the restaurant industry. Throughout high school, I worked at a country club in York, PA. I entered the US Army in 1979 and completed the US Army Food Service School in Fort Jackson, SC. The next three years I spent in Germany cooking and working as a night baker.

After my service in the US Army, I began employment at the Country Club of York while also working at a restaurant and catering business in York. I decided in my mid twenties that I would like to attend college for the Culinary Arts. I looked at many schools and was accepted at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. I completed my freshman year of college in ten weeks during the summer of 1985 and received my A.O.S. degree in Culinary Arts in May 1986. I had many job offers at the completion of college and accepted an offer working for the Marriott Hotel in Greensboro, NC. I married my wife Annette in June of 1986, and our honeymoon was loading the U-Haul truck and moving to North Carolina. During my tenure at the Marriott Corporation, I was a Food Production Manager, Baker, and Banquet Chef. I also completed the Marriott Culinary Training Program and Food Production Management Training Program.

My wife and I moved back to PA in 1989, and I became the Executive Chef at a historic bed and breakfast inn and restaurant west of Gettysburg. During my time at this establishment, I was able to cook for several of the movie stars from the film Gettysburg. I met Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, Stephen Lang, and Melissa Gilbert during the production of the movie. I also was the Executive Chef at the Holiday Inn in Gettysburg for two years.

I decided to change my career path when our son Arlo was born. I was hired as the School Food Service Director at a residential child care institution in south central PA and was in charge of the entire food service program. In this capacity, I supervised the preparation of 3 meals a day / 7 days per week / 365 days per year for the children in care. It was a very rewarding experience to prepare nutritious meals for the children. I worked at this facility for 19 years, but my passion was to teach Culinary Arts.

In 2013, I was very fortunate to be hired by the Carlisle Area School District. I have had a passion to teach Culinary Arts since my graduation from college. I want to share the knowledge and experiences that I have obtained in my career with the Culinary Arts at Carlisle.