Student chefs travel to Washington D.C. for national cooking contest
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Atlanta area sixth grader Caleb McGee says cooking is a somewhat new hobby for him. He became interested after watching his father make meals.
“He cooks really good, so I thought maybe I could cook that good,” McGee said.
In his first ever competitive cooking challenge, organized by K12, McGee made a crab rangoon, and became one of five students to emerge from the pack of 400 contestants.
“I think that’s really important,” McGee said. “I am really proud of me getting there.”
The competition is modeled off the tv show “Chopped.” The 6-12 grade students are given a dish and an hour to put it together.
“They’re going in here this morning having no idea what their ingredients are,” K12 spokesperson Brooke Gabbert said. “They’re in the kitchen that they’ve never cooked in. So they’re really going to have to use their culinary skills to put this together.”
K12 helps allow an online education option for parents and student that want one. The group helps more than 200,000 students nationally. They say events to bring students together in person is an important of the experience.
But some of the students are interested in a culinary career.
“A lot of them are on a culinary track,” Gabbert said. “They’re interested in it. I think, you know, they’ve been practicing. They’re taking this very seriously. It’s not necessarily a hobby for them. They do see this as a pathway.”
It also allows the students a chance to see the Nation’s Capital.
“I went to the White House, and I visited the Cannon House,” McGee said. “I went to the Library of Congress there, and it was really nice.”
The winner of the contest receives $1000.
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