Sun staff
April 25 marked a day of friendly competition at Days of Wonder school as students participated in the school’s first cooking competition.
“The kids requested an event like the television show ‘Chopped,’” said Cynthia Day, founder, director and teacher at the school.
Day was happy to oblige and organized the “Master Chef” competition as part of the school’s learning theme for the year, which is Foods and Cooking: Adventure through the Americas.
The competition, which consisted of the four categories of soup, salad, bread and dessert, was open to all students at the school; 18 students, ranging from first-grade to seventh-grade, participated by submitting an entry into at least one of the categories.
“This is a really neat activity that brings together a lot of the lessons that students have been learning,” Day explained. “It’s an exercise in measuring and learning about where food comes from. Students are also continuing to investigate organic and non-genetically modified food options.”
She added, “This competition allows students to work towards something they are passionate about.”
Kelsey Phelps, a sixth-grade student, entered the soup competition using her family’s chicken tortilla soup recipe.
Phelps, who felt excited and confident about her entry, said she was surprised to learn how long it took to make the soup.
“I made it yesterday, and it took about three hours,” she said. “This competition taught me that a lot of foods can take longer than you might think to make.”
Fourth-grader Emery Williams entered the salad competition with an original creation she called “Tutti Frutti.” Ingredients in the salad consisted of caramel, ramen noodles, kiwi apples and grapes.
“My favorite part of the competition is meeting all the people I’m competing against,” said Williams.
The entrants presented their dishes before an audience of their peers and a panel of five judges, which consisted of board members and donors of the school.
Winners of the Master Chef competition, who were presented with designer chef hats, were sixth-grader Brent Emerson with cheeseburger soup, third-grader Ruby Smith with a Waldorf salad, sixth-grader Isabella Harrell with banana bread and sixth grader Cheyenne McMurren with “Million Dollar Pie.”