April 7, 2022 — This week, more than 230 high-school
students from across Southwest Minnesota gathered to participate in The Schwan’s
Culinary Skills Challenge at Southwest Minnesota State University. Schwan’s
Company sponsored the annual event that is led by Southwest West Central
Service Cooperative.
“We are incredibly excited to host this event once again and
we know the students are more than ready for this day of culinary competition
and education,” said Career Development Coordinator Gail Polejewski, SWWC.
“Food plays such a crucial role in all of our lives, so it is especially
inspiring to see all the culinary potential and talent that these students
demonstrate.”
“This event would not be possible without the generous support from so many in our community,” Gail added. “I want to thank all of the student educators and chaperones as well as the guest judges from Yelloh. Special thanks also goes to Schwan’s Company for sponsoring this event, to Yelloh™ for donating ice cream and its Signature™ Chicken Breast Fillets that will be used as an ingredient in our culinary competition and Southwest Minnesota State University’s Culinology™ Department for its continued partnership in helping lead this event.”
This is the 16th year SW/WC is hosting The
Schwan’s Culinary Skills Challenge, which was put on pause from 2020 to 2021
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual spring event brings together high-school students
to showcase their artistic and scientific creations through hands-on competitions
and seminars. Throughout the day, students receive practical information and
have opportunities to practice and develop culinary skills through interactions
with professionals. These experiences help students make the connection between
school and a wide range of food-related careers.
In addition, teams competing in the Culinary and Cooking
Competition also had a chance to win SMSU Scholarships in the amounts of $500,
$1,000 and $2,000. To win the scholarship, students must enroll in SMSU’s
Culinology™ program within a year.
This year’s event included students in grades nine through
12. The 14 participating high schools included: Adrian, BOLD, Ellsworth,
Fairmont, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Lakeview, Marshall, Montevideo, Mountain Lake,
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Springfield, Tracy, Worthington and Yellow Medicine
East.
