Finals for students in culinary is a little different from any other elective: they hold a cookie bakeoff. The students are divided in six table groups, and within their groups they have to either research and find their own cookie recipe to follow, choose a family recipe if they have one, or make a cookie recipe from scratch. Once they figure their plan out, they prepare themselves for the next day to face the other groups and compete for the title of best cookie recipe. “It is so much fun, I personally really loved it, but it’s only enjoyable if you know how to bake of course,” said student Diana Demchuk.

The students then come in the next day with their finalized recipe and using teamwork and patience plan how to make the cookie. As they work, they keep in mind that they only have a little bit of time before the judges come in, and their work becomes something they have to determine as the winner or not. “It was pretty fun and a little nerve racking, but it wasn’t a huge deal. We couldn’t come out in the hallway when they were judging each and every group’s cookie, so it was a little bit stressful,” said Amanda Kruel. “When the teachers came in with their clipboards everyone was intimidated by who the winner is.”

Once the teachers came in the class and judged the presented cookies, all the teams prepared for the announcement of the winner. “Then after we presented the cookies to the teachers, they went into the hallways where we couldn’t see which cookie they were tasting and judged them based of appearance, taste and texture. After they judged the cookies, the teacher tallied up all the points and announced the winner on Wednesday,” said Ethan Vogel.