Representing Brooks County High School and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College are members of the Culinary Arts Team: (L-R) Keionna Donaldson, Arkessia Stewart, Raeanna Barbour, Breauna Grant, and Wiregrass Tech Culinary Arts Instructor Chef Tammy Acree. These students are dual enrolled at BCHS and Wiregrass and are receiving college credit for free while in high school through the Dual Enrollment program.
Brooks County High School students who are enrolled in the Wiregrass Technical College Dual Enrollment CTAE course submitted a recipe as a part of the 4th Annual Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) Chef Competition. Two recipes and teams competed at the school level and was judged by school administration. The winning team submitted applications in late November in hopes to get to the second round cook off in Macon in February. The top ten recipes in the state would be chosen for the final state competition to advance to the national level.
The recipe must meet the USDA meal pattern requirements. The recipe must be original. The recipes must meet the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meal pattern and nutrient standards and be an entrée for school lunch. Seasonings should focus on herbs and spices, while keeping sodium to a minimum. The recipes must include two or more Georgia Grown products that are integral to the dish; not a garnish. The recipes must incorporate at least one USDA Food Commodity. The recipe must serve six people and must include steps for preparation and describe the equipment necessary to recreate the dish. All grains used must be whole grain. Teams are judged on food safety, NSLP meal pattern and nutrient standards, recipe presentation, creativity, school food service reproducibility and use of Georgia grown ingredients and USDA Foods. A brief presentation of the dish will be given to the judging panel to include an introduction of team members, a description of the dish, an explanation of the dish creation, and student taste test results. The recipe must be approved by the school district’s School Nutrition Program prior to entering the contest.
Brooks County High School was notified in January that it made it to the finalist phase of competition which would be held in Macon on February 20, 2020. Along with Brooks County High School, the following schools advanced to compete for the state win: Baldwin High School (Baldwin), Cass High School (Bartow), Bleckley County High School (Bleckley), Dublin High School (Dublin City), Lambert High School (Forsyth County), Spalding County High School (Griffin-Spalding), Maxwell High School of Technology (Gwinnett), Jackson County Comprehensive High School (Jackson), and Putnam High School (Putnam). All recipes will be available later in the year for incorporation into school nutrition programs across the state of Georgia.
Wiregrass Technical College Culinary Art Instructor, Chef Tammy Acree along with Brooks County High students: Breauna Grant, Keionna Donaldson, Arkessia Stewart and Raeanna Barbour left Brooks County High School at 4:30 AM in route to Helms College in Macon, Georgia to compete against the other nine Georgia high school finalists. The team had two hours to prepare the recipe for judging from start to finish. Brooks County High School finished first in the competition as the best high school chefs in the state and will advance to the Southeast Regional Junior Chef Competition in Louisville, Kentucky May 7-8, 2020. Anyone wishing to help sponsor the team may contact Brian Law, CTAE Director at blaw@brooks.k12.ga.us or 229-588-2341.
Article courtesy of Brooks County High School and Brian Law.
