News and Challenge Updates

Last Monday night over 200 guests gathered to celebrate the efforts of 51 young culinarians with the High School Culinary Challenge, presented by Alberta Pork. With an appetizer reception and awards ceremonies at NAIT, the winners of the competition and recipients of the scholarship program were announced.

This year, two levels of competition were offered to the participating schools – Division A (CKA) for those offering Culinary Arts curriculum, and Division B (FOD) for those offering Foods curriculum at the high school level. 17 teams competed by cooking a three-course meal on March 7th inside the NAIT’s kitchens and were judged on preparation, timing, sanitation, presentation and of course taste! In partnership with Alberta Pulse Growers, we had an extra competition component of a Pulse Course, that Debra McLennan, Food & Nutrition Coordinator, assisted in judging.

The Best Pulse Course was awarded to Dr. Anne Anderson High School Team 3.

The Division B Award Recipients are Louis St. Laurent Catholic High School Team 1 with Bronze, Louis St. Laurent Catholic High School Team 2 with Silver, and St. Oscar Romero Catholic High School with Gold.

The Division A Award Recipients are Bev Facey High School with Bronze, St. Joseph Catholic High School Team 2 with Silver, and Dr. Anne Anderson High School Team 1 with the Gold .

“From seeing the past 18 years of High School Culinary Challenges, we are all appreciative of the momentum the event gives to our competitors in their career pathways, as well as to our high school courses and to our city’s vibrant food scene. The Challenge also supports apprenticeship training – which is immensely valuable and one of the most equitable education opportunities available. Once again we are excited to support this incredible event and see what these young chefs can do!” – Andrew Hess, HSCC Chair.

A very special element of the Awards Program included honouring the three founders of the HSCC, Stanley Townsend, Simon Smotkowicz and Jan Anderson. All three were in attendance and were recognized for their incredible efforts and passion for culinary education.

The Stanley Townsend Scholarship Recipient is Jaeden Mendez from Dr. Anne Anderson High School. The Simon Smotkowicz Scholarship Recipient is Kara Mah from Bev Facey High School. The Jan Anderson Scholarship Recipient is Seth Botterill from Dr. Anne Anderson High School. We had so many wonderful applicants this year we were able to give a fourth scholarship honouring Alberta Pork to Rogen Llamera from St Joseph Catholic High School.