Woodstock Middle Student Chefs Advance To State Competition

WOODSTOCK, GA — A team of Woodstock Middle School students are state finalists in the Georgia Department of Education’s Fueling Georgia’s Future Student Chef Competition.

The team of Kaiden Hughes, Justin Kovalyuk and Nathan Rupp will prepare their winning recipe, “Beets and Sweets,” in the Georgia Harvest Vegetable cook-off on Feb. 20 in Macon. There is a high school division and a middle school division in the competition, and the Woodstock Middle School team is one of only eight teams statewide selected for the cook-off. Their family and consumer sciences teacher and cook-off coach is Georgia Heard.

“We’re so proud of these students and excited they now can show off their skills at the state level,” Superintendent of Schools Brian Hightower said. “Our career classes in middle and high school, led by outstanding teachers like Ms. Heard, offer students opportunities to learn about possible career paths, and can teach them valuable skills – like cooking – that they will use for the rest of their lives.”

The finalist teams earned the opportunity to compete in the cook-off by developing the best recipes statewide that use a Georgia Harvest Vegetable, demonstrate healthy eating, and could easily be added to their school’s cafeteria menu.

At the competition, the students’ work will be judged by professional chefs on overall appeal, appearance and execution, taste, presentation; the teams’ sanitation and food safety skills also will be factored into the judging.

While recipes are kept under wraps until the competition, Cherokee Schools' School Nutrition department plans on featuring “Beets and Sweets” as its “recipe of the month” published on its website and in the District’s Cherokee Schools Connections parent newsletter in the future.