One hundred high school students from selected Orange County Public Schools will get to demonstrate their culinary skills at the Third Annual Central Florida High School Culinary Competition and Conference, tomorrow, Thursday, December 13 at the Marriott World Center in Orlando.
Four different competitions will take place simultaneously allowing high school students to show skills they are learning in culinary classes taught in our high schools and technical education centers.
A new category in the competition this year is hospitality. Teams will be competing in several events including: a case study, an event planning project, and room inspections. Students will also participate in a table décor competition where they create non-edible centerpieces to decorate the tables used for lunch during the event. The addition of the hospitality competition allows students to showcase the Lodging Management Program curriculum taught at Academies of Hospitality and Tourism.
Competitors will be judged by local Florida restaurant owners, operators, and chefs in gourmet meal presentation, dessert presentation, and edible centerpieces. They represent Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA), Marriott, Sea World, Walt Disney World, and local magazines. This year, local celebrity chef Emily Ellyn from the Food Network will be a guest judge.
Students participating in the competition are from Colonial, Cypress Creek, Freedom, Oak Ridge, and Winter Park high schools. Also represented are Gateway School, Mid Florida Tech, Orlando Tech, and Westside Tech. The students are enrolled in Florida’s ProStart® program which  instructs students in culinary management.  The program also helps foster character building traits, including teamwork, creativity, hard work, and spirited competition. The goal is to show students career opportunities in the culinary field which can lead to future employment in the hospitality industry.
The competition is hosted by Central Florida National Academy Foundation, Academy of Hospitality and Tourism Advisory Board, among others.
(For more information, contact either Patricia Breeding 407.317.3200 ext. 2690 or 407.671.1133 or Kathy Marsh, sr. mgr., OCPS Media Relations at 407.317.3458.)
