JTHS Culinary Arts Students to Design a Kids Meal for Chicagoland Speedway & Route 66 Raceway's 2016 Menu as Part Curriculum

Chicagoland Speedway and representatives from Levy Restaurants, Chicagoland Speedway’s concessions provider, visited Joliet Township High School Culinary II students as part of the 2015-16 “Cooking for a Cause” curriculum program.

Jan Michael Taylor, Regional Director of Operations for Levy Restaurants, and Christopher Albano, Executive Chef for Levy Restaurants, spoke with the 35 JTHS students about working in the culinary and hospitality field while also providing insights, feedback and guidance as the students plan for this year’s Cooking for a Cause assignment. This school year’s curriculum program will bring JTHS designed Kids Meals to Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 Raceway’s menus in the summer of 2016.

Cooking for a Cause is a curriculum program that has been implemented in Joliet Township High Schools for two years in which culinary arts students’ are mentored by Levy Restaurants to help create innovative ideas for menu items. The year-long program allows students in advanced culinary classes to gain real life experience in the areas of culinary arts, marketing, sales, community outreach, event planning and hospitality.

Similar to previous years, students from the West and Central campuses will team up to compete against their fellow classmates in a competition for the best kid’s meal. The kid’s meal should be an original creation, thought up by students themselves and can be accompanied with a healthy side option.

Throughout the year, Chicagoland Speedway and Levy executives and chefs like Taylor and Albano will assist the students in idea creation, planning, preparing and execution. In March 2016, students will submit their final creations. A panel of judges comprised of Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet Township High School and Levy representatives will narrow down the selection of kid’s meals to the final four.

From there, the four teams selected will organize a fundraiser where the meals will be available for sampling and voting by members of the community. One winner will be selected from both Rochelle Bjelland’s Joliet Central class and Adrienne Walton’s Joliet West class. These two meals will be available for purchase during Route 66 Raceway’s NHRA Nationals weekend, July 7-10, 206, and during Chicagoland Speedway’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup four-day race weekend, Sept. 15-18.

In addition to the students having their signature item featured on the menu, but also have the opportunity to apply for two scholarships totaling $2,500.