Students Cook Up a Winner for School Lunch Menus

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The air in the CUSD Central Kitchen was filled with music, chatter and the smell of garlic warming in pans at the district&rsquo;s 3rd annual Lunchroom Cook-Off competition. With a backdrop of industrial food preparation equipment, and dozens of audience members watching, the 10 student competitors had one hour to cook their favorite recipe and win a spot on the district&rsquo;s school lunch menu.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 6-8 grade students represented Expanded Learning programs at Monroe, Rolling HIlls, Sherman Oaks and Campbell School of Innovation. The timed cooking event is the culmination of an 8-week after school curriculum about nutrition, food safety, and the special requirements for school lunches. Sponsors included CalFresh, Santa Clara County Public Health, Sutter Health, 5-2-1-0, University of California Continuing Education (UCCE), and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judge Tony Leoffler, chef at Flights Restaurant, was impressed. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to see the kids learning about nutrition and food safety, especially with the health issues happening these days,&rdquo; he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Joining Loeffler at the judges panel were CUSD Board President Danielle Cohen, Child Nutrition Manager Benny Calderon, Child Nutrition Assistant Manager Vachan Boja, and student judges Angela Park (CSI), Janina Carrera (Monroe), Salim Islam (Rolling Hills) and Madison Rock (Sherman Oaks).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sherman Oaks team won the trophy and placement on the school lunch menu with their Enchiladas Verdes (green enchiladas).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jxcT6UHzuMdaVEZg-omuL2nePn4kuNz5/view?usp=drive_link">Click to view a short video of the event.</a></strong></p><script src="//cdn.public.flmngr.com/FLMNFLMN/widgets.js"></script>

Annual timed cooking competition teaches nutrition, safety, and stress management

<p><span>The air in the CUSD Central Kitchen was filled with music, chatter and the smell of garlic warming in pans at the district’s 3rd annual Lunchroom Cook-Off competition. With a backdrop of industrial food preparation equipment, and dozens of audience members watching, the 10 student competitors had one hour to cook their favorite recipe and win a spot on the district’s school lunch menu.</span></p> <p><span>The 6-8 grade students represented Expanded Learning programs at Monroe, Rolling HIlls, Sherman Oaks and Campbell School of Innovation. The timed cooking event is the culmination of an 8-week after school curriculum about nutrition, food safety, and the special requirements for school lunches. Sponsors included CalFresh, Santa Clara County Public Health, Sutter Health, 5-2-1-0, University of California Continuing Education (UCCE), and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. </span></p> <p><span>Judge Tony Leoffler, chef at Flights Restaurant, was impressed. “It’s great to see the kids learning about nutrition and food safety, especially with the health issues happening these days,” he said.</span></p> <p><span>Joining Loeffler at the judges panel were CUSD Board President Danielle Cohen, Child Nutrition Manager Benny Calderon, Child Nutrition Assistant Manager Vachan Boja, and student judges Angela Park (CSI), Janina Carrera (Monroe), Salim Islam (Rolling Hills) and Madison Rock (Sherman Oaks).</span></p> <p><span>The Sherman Oaks team won the trophy and placement on the school lunch menu with their Enchiladas Verdes (green enchiladas).  </span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jxcT6UHzuMdaVEZg-omuL2nePn4kuNz5/view?usp=drive_link">Click to view a short video of the event.</a></strong></p>

<p>Annual timed cooking competition teaches nutrition, safety, and stress management</p>

4 middle school students (2 boys and 2 girls) standing together and smiling as one boy holds a winners trophy