Over the past couple of weeks, culinary students were able to show their cooking abilities on their version of the popular show, Chopped. Contestants were given random ingredients and 50 minutes to make an entrée and a dessert. They started off with four teams and ended up with one over the course of three days.  Students learned to work under pressure and stressful circumstances. The panel included three judges, seniors D’Ondre Fordham, Ryan Davis, and Halaya Hunt, who reviewed the food and flavors carefully and determined who moved on to the next round.  

Culinary teacher Shawn Thompson said, “I feel it went very well and it was a learning process for the kids each day to learn how to utilize everything in the kitchen and how work under pressure and use time management.’’ 

One of our Chopped champions was senior Drue Maurus. “I put a lot of trust into my cooking skills and I feel that my team did really well. It was a learning experience for me while trying to put different ingredients in dishes that you wouldn’t normally use together,” he said.