The culinary program recently participated in the annual Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) competition. This organization is located in seven states and features some of the top chefs in the nation as the judges. The participating students compete in a statewide contest that is broken up into two rounds, the preliminary round and the finals.

This year there were over 100 students in the preliminary round, nine of which came from Perry. In the first round all competitors have to to prepare their dishes in the alloted time. Judges walk around the kitchen and observe safety regulations as well as judge the final products afterwards.

Senior Gary Kent elaborated, “The way it works is we prepare two dishes that were planned in advance. We had to do French omelets and a compost salad. Everyone prepares the same thing so you know exactly what to make and what they are looking for.”

Kent is one of just two students from the original nine to make it past the preliminary round and qualify for the finals. The other finalist is Senior Emily Havey. While Kent participated in the C-Cap competition last year, Havey did not have any previous experience to go off of this year. In preparation for the competition, they would meet two or three times a week along with other students in the culinary room and practice cooking the dishes within the time limits.

In regards to how she did in the preliminary rounds Havey commented, “There were definitely things I could have improved on but I was still proud of what I was able to make.”

Along with participating in the annual C-CAP competition, Havey also submitted an original recipe in a national recipe writing contest. Havey won first place in the 2018 Nationwide C-CAP Meatless Monday Recipe Competition. She beat out competitors from several states and received scholarship money as well.

Both Havey and Kent will be moving on the the final round of the C-CAP competition which will be held over spring break. Out of the original 100 competitors only 30 made it to the finals. Along with recognition and exposure, the winners will have the opportunity to receive scholarships as well.

Culinary teacher Angela Stutz stated, “I am very proud of Emily and Gary. It is a lot of work. They have put a lot of time and energy into this competition.”