Jeff began his career in food service at the age of 16, as a busboy and dishwasher at a restaurant in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Northwood University with a degree in Culinary Arts and a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management from the New England Culinary Institute, Jeff has worked in nearly every facet of the business. Most of his experience has been in managing upscale hotel kitchens and clubs. 

Jeff’s affiliation with Wake Tech began in 1989 as an industry advisor; he has served as a culinary instructor since 2001. Jeff is responsible for the coordination of Wake Tech’s exchange program with a hotel/culinary school in France. He has also participated in a program called Adopt-A-Ship, in which chefs conduct training classes onboard Navy ships at sea. Outside of work, Jeff enjoys mountain biking and auto sports.

Caralyn House has a degree in Finance and Banking from Appalachian State University and an associate’s degree in Culinary Arts from L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland.  Caralyn won a scholarship to study pastry arts with Roland Mesnier, the White House Pastry Chef. She has worked in restaurants in the Washington, DC, area as well as in Raleigh. 

Chef House has been teaching a variety of classes at Wake Tech since 1992. She now focuses on the baking and pastry classes and serves as lead instructor for the Baking & Pastry Arts degree program. She is a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) and was awarded the 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award by the North Carolina Community College System.

Eric Stopka has a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting and Communications from East Carolina University and an Associate’s Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from Wake Technical Community College. He began his career in the foodservice industry at the age of 17 as a dishwasher and a prep cook, working his way up in the kitchen to Sous chef and Assistant Manager at many different restaurants across NC.

His love of pastry led him to receive an Associate’s Degree from Wake Tech and then work at the prestigious Fearrington House restaurant as Lead Pastry Cook where he helped the restaurant maintain the triple, five-diamond award status. He then went on to work at Whole Foods Market as a Bakery Manager.

Chef Stopka has been teaching at Wake Tech since 2012 as an adjunct teacher and since the Fall of 2016 came on board as a full-time teacher. He loves teaching and enjoys working with the students in achieving their personal and professional goals.

Chef Melissa Attanas developed a passion for food, baking, and cooking at a young age.  While still in high school, she began her career working all the stations in a small French restaurant kitchen in Eastern North Carolina.  She loved it so much that after graduating she went on to earn an AAS in Culinary Arts at Wake Technical Community College in 2003.  She has experience working in award-winning institutions including Hayes Barton Café in Raleigh, Magnolia Grill in Durham, and Bon Appetit Management Company at SAS in Cary. 

Chef Attanas has 20 years of experience in different facets of the food and restaurant industry under her belt and knows a lot about the hard work and dedication it takes to be successful in a baking and pastry arts career.  At each step in her career, she found herself mentoring beginners and soon realized her passion for teaching was as great as her passion for baking.  One of her favorite things about her work experience was getting to mold people new to professional kitchen work. 

In 2010, Chef Attanas began working as an adjunct baking instructor at WTCC’s Southern Wake Campus while working full time in the restaurant industry.  Inspired by the positive impact Wake Tech has on the community, she decided to go full time as a baking instructor at the new Northern Wake Campus kitchen in 2017.  She describes her teaching style as firm and consistent while encouraging her students to develop a passion for their work.