East Leyden Wins Triton College HIA Cook-Off

At Triton's first Hospitality Industry Administration (HIA) High School Cook-Off, East Leyden High School students Max Schammert and Kenny Patroski, were each awarded $500 scholarships to Triton College, a culinary knife kit, a pastry knife kit and Triton chef jackets as winners of the TV style cook-off competition.

Six pairs of students from local high schools, were asked to compete. The participants were given one hour and 15 minutes to cook and prepare the menu items according to the recipes that were provided. Family members and teachers were able to watch the contest via monitors in the dining room.

Contestants were asked to prepare dishes from a menu selected by judges. The students were evaluated during the cooking and planning process, as well as on the taste and presentation of the final product. Students from Triton's HIA Program volunteered their time to assist with the competition. An HIA student represented each high school team to assist them with equipment usage, sanitation practices and overall safety.

Second and third place awards went to Proviso West students Gabriel Maldonado and Kevin Le, and West Leyden students Emilio Ricardo and Pawel Trznadel respectively, who were given knife kits. All participating teams received chef jackets.