HOLLANDALE — The Future Focused Student Initiative and The Jobs for Mississippi Graduates (JMG) Program at Simmons High School in Hollandale are cooking up something extra special for their students, especially for 10 in particular.
The Mississippi Department of Education/Office of Child Nutrition will host a statewide Junior Chef Cooking Competition — “Savor the Flavor of Mississippi.” This competition allows high school students the opportunity to learn about recipe development, farm to school resources, teamwork, and friendly competition among their peers.
As a collaboration between JMG program lead Shelia Gray-Daniels and Hollandale School District food service director Joanne Martin, this competition is expected to broaden students’ horizons as it pertains to the professional world.
“Ms. Martin and myself are truly excited about this opportunity for our students. We don’t have a culinary arts program so we thought it was an awesome opportunity for them to get exposed to the jobs in the culinary field,” Gray-Daniels said.
The competition usually consists of about 20 teams from across the state. According to the competition guidelines, two teams per district are allowed to participate and two teams of five students will be representing Simmons High School.
Each team is in full competition mode as they display their culinary talents to advance to state finals, which is where the top three regional teams come together to compete for the overall first-place trophy.
The first-place Mississippi team will prepare to travel to the Southeast Regional Competition in Louisville, Kentucky, to compete against other first place winners from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The two teams from Simmons High School, which are a combination of sophomores and juniors, are called All-Star Cooks and All Fired Up.
The All-Star Cooks students include Shakyliah Wilson, Trakala Williams, Kamiya Wilson, Mar’Kiyah Vallery and Tyneshia McNair (alternate).
The All Fired Up team includes Xavier Winters, Me’Kariaha Jones, Demiya Hampton, A’niyah Winston and Roderick Matthews Jr. (alternate).
These students are preparing to enter the first round of the competition and are in the process of planning their recipes, which have to be submitted and approved based on certain guidelines. Some of those guidelines include the ingredients being “MS Goods,” which means it was sourced directly from a local Mississippi farmer, and a nutrient analysis.
Some ingredients needed for the dishes will come from Hollandale School District’s very own garden on campus.
Food service director Joann Martin said the students’ participation is a cross-curriculum in which the students learn about the health aspect as well as the math.
“It ties in with Superintendent Willis’ Future Focused Student Initiative by exposing students to different career options and experience in different career fields,” she said.
The first-place winner of the state level competition will be awarded a scholarship in the amount of $16,000 for each member; second place winner will be awarded a scholarship in the amount of $12,000 for each member; and the third place winner will be awarded a scholarship in the amount of $8,000 for each member.
First-, second- and third-place winners of the state level competition qualify for the regional competition in which the stakes and awards are much higher.
For each team, the prizes for the regional competition are $45,000-$55,000 for first place, $47,000 for second place and $20,000 for third place.
State and regional scholarships will be awarded at Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky.
Superintendent Dr. Mario Willis started the Future Focused Student Initiative and this competition participation is one of the fruits produced by the initiative.
