Here’s a concept: Rather than having teens from different high schools compete against each other, this innovative program unites teens from different schools to work together on teams. Students from two Birmingham-area high schools came together to meet and compete in the first Greater Birmingham Junior Cook-Off at Jefferson State Community College in Alabama. Culinary students from Wenonah High School teamed up with students from Hoover High School, and then they were divided into two mixed teams. Teens took tilapia and fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs from the local farmer’s market Pepper Place, and had 75 minutes to create a culinary masterpiece.
“It was different,” Mychala Redeaux, a junior at Wenonah, told Al.com. “We had to get to know each other really fast so we could work fast together and get this done as a team.”
From left, Karla Gomez of Hoover High, Amber Parks of Wenonah High, Hoover's Jack Sanchez, and Wenonah's Kenneth Myree plate their tilapia dish during the Junior Cook-Off in Birmingham, Ala. (Photo by TAMIKA MOORE, AL.com)
