Press release

HOUGHTON — Twenty-three local high school students will participate in a culinary cook-off today as part of TRIO Upward Bound’s Summer Program, an educational camp offered at Michigan Tech. Sponsored by Husky Eats, a part of Chartwells Higher Education, participating students have been learning the basics of cooking, baking, kitchen safety, combining flavors, and more during the 12-session program taking place this June and July. The cook-off will challenge teams of students to take what they have learned during the course to prepare a picnic-themed meal.

TRIO Upward Bound is a program of Michigan Tech’s Center for Educational Outreach and is designed to stimulate and motivate high school students from eligible backgrounds to pursue a program of post-secondary education. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and currently serves 84 students in grades 9-12 in Baraga, Houghton and Keweenaw counties. All Upward Bound services are free to participants, including academic support and tutoring, educational events and activities, and the opportunity to participate on overnight tours of regional colleges and universities.

The TRIO Upward Bound 6-week residential Summer Program covers academic subjects including math, science, English, foreign languages and life skills such as culinary arts. The inclusion of culinary arts is new to the program this year.

“TRIO Upward Bound has been thrilled to partner with Husky Eats and provide our students with an introductory Culinary Arts course,” said David Kamrad, TRIO Upward Bound Director. “Our goal during the summer program is to help prepare students not only for academic success but to acclimate them to the responsibilities of being on their own, which this course has accomplished.”

Students learn from Husky Eats culinary professionals about kitchen safety, proper food handling, cooking techniques, baking techniques and decorating, meal budgeting, measuring, flavor pairings, and careers within culinary arts. They also learn from Eric Schley, Campus Dietitian, about nutrition labels, allergens, portioning, and My Plate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guidelines for balancing meals. The participants will also take a food handling test for certification through American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

“This program is unlike a typical culinary program as we allow the students to have creative control over their dishes while highlighting their knowledge and new found skill set,” said Chef Abbie Linden, Husky Eats. “Although some students may not want to pursue a career in the culinary arts, we are still hoping to impart an understanding of why certain flavors work and how to create a nutritious and wholesome meal.”

Students have already prepared their own spice blend, biscuits, chicken corn chowder, cold noodle salad and bean salad, and have decorated a cake. They have also met business owners and toured local food service operations to see how they operate. These included tours of North Harvest CSA farm, Bread Loafers Bakery, and Roy’s Pasties and Bakery.

“The culinary class was one of the most fun experiences here during our stay at Tech! I really enjoyed how hands-on everything was, the life skills we learned, and how lively and fun the chefs were during our classes,” shares Lizzie, a current participant.

Another participant, Clara, shared, “I really enjoyed how involved the chefs were with students and I’m looking forward to our cook-off and facing off against my fellow chef students!”

The culinary portion of the program will end with a 60-minute cook-off challenge where teams of 5-6 students will prepare an appetizer, entree and dessert to fit the picnic theme. Each team will have an executive chef mentor and will need to prepare three plated meals for tasting and one plated meal for visual judging. Dishes will be judged on taste, plating, originality, cleanliness and preparedness.

“These students have been eager, challenged, and have certainly stepped up to the ‘plate,'” shares chef Abbie Linden. “I greatly look forward to our culmination of the class and the passion that will be shown in our final culinary showdown.”

This event will have limited seating available and is not open to the general public.