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Sperry Elementary Future Chefs Dish Out Healthy Treats
Click on the image to the right to view more pictures of the Future Chefs and their creations.
Donning traditional chef’s hats and white aprons, five Sperry Elementary students cooked favorite dishes for the 7th annual Future Chefs National Challenge competition to tempt the palates of three judges. The two 2nd grade students, one 3rd grade student, and two 4th grade students were all excited about the opportunity to enter the final round of the challenge and bake their specialty.
Students throughout Sperry Elementary had submitted recipes for dishes they have made at home for the first round in this year’s Future Chef’s National Challenge. Each submitted recipe was reviewed by professional chefs, and the top five were chosen for the cooking challenge. The five finalists were announced a week before the competition. Then, on the afternoon of March 3rd, the five finalists were partnered with members of Sperry Public Schools’ Child Nutrition staff to prepare the dishes. The student chefs went through each step of their recipe, fixed a large helping, and arranged a display plate as part of the final preparations. The three judges took samples of the dishes, studied the display plates, and questioned the chefs as part of the difficult task of choosing one of the five as Sperry’s top Future Chef.
Wesley Maudlin, a 2nd grade chef, made Cheeseburger Sliders. Two pounds of hamburger yielded 12 cheeseburger sliders from Wesley’s recipe. He noted that it was “all pretty easy” to make and thought it would not be difficult for others to do. When asked why he chose the cheeseburger sliders as his dish, Wesley shrugged and said, “Cheeseburger is my favorite food.” There is no doubt that his cheeseburger sliders will be the favorite of many people.
Another 2nd grade chef, Nonie Pope, made Nonie’s Amazing Mac. Chicken strips and baby spinach helped Nonie’s mac ‘n cheese be a special dish. It was no surprise that Nonie noted, “I love mac ‘n cheese.” Her only advice to chefs who want to try their hand at her dish was to watch the noodles. “They are the most difficult part,” she said. “If they are over cooked they can be too messy.” Fortunately, Nonie got it just right.
Kassidi Wessell, the 3rd grade chef, made meat pockets as her dish. Using grand-sized rolled biscuits as the “pocket,” Kassidi added taco seasoning to create her own take on the traditional taco. When asked why she chose the meat pocket, she said she “made them at home, and it’s a simple recipe.” They proved both simple to make and quick to disappear from the plate.
Colten Faucett, one of the two 4th grade chefs, created Triple B Burgers with Potato Wedges. Well-spiced mini burger, lettuce, and tomato on a mini bun was then topped off with a small strip of crisp bacon with a skewer to hold it all together. Colten chose to make the burger and potato wedges because he felt sure “this is something I thought everyone likes.” The most difficult part, he said, “was putting the whole thing together. Getting it all to stay in place was harder than I thought it would be.” His efforts were certainly worth the trouble.
The other 4th grade chef, Kassidy Mauldin, made a version of Pioneer Woman Chicken & Nachos. Because Kassidy liked the nachos at school so well, she decided to create a hearty version at home. “Cooking and turning the chicken in the sauce was the most difficult part,” she said. Once added together, the spicy chicken and cheesy nachos were well matched for one another.
Each dish was scored by the three judges based on a detailed rubric. One to five points were awarded in each of six categories: Originality, Easy Preparation, Healthy Attributes, Kid Friendly, Taste, and Plate Presentation/Appearance. An additional one to three pints were added for Student Chef Presentation to Judges. The judges not only tasted each dish and reviewed the recipe for ease of preparation, but they asked questions of each chef about their creations.
“Each dish has to have an aspect that is original to that chef’s recipe,” Sperry Director of Child Nutrition, Susan Sherwood, said. “It has to be simple enough for the young chef to make it for his or her family, be a healthy choice, look good, and, of course, taste good.” Ms. Sherwood pointed out that “each of these chefs have already won—they are finalists in this last round of competition, so we expect most of these categories to rate pretty high for each of them.” To keep the competition from being too stressful on the judges, “none of them know how the others are scoring the dishes,” Ms. Sherwood said. “It is only when the points are all added together in the computer’s matrix that anyone knows who has won.”
Three chefs received bronze metals, one received a silver medal, and the district Top Chef received a gold medal. Because the five chefs were the district’s finalists, each received a prize of cooking utensils and a cookbook. Kassidi Wessell was declared the district Top Chef, and received utensils, a set of cookware, mixing bowls, a Fitbit, and a bicycle. Kassidi will meet with over 250 other district winners in the Regional Finals where the top 40 chefs will advance to the next level.
