STATE COLLEGE — Students from five different schools sharpened their knives and donned their aprons to compete in the 2024 Army Culinary Championship, facilitated by Start College Army Recruiting Company, on Friday, April 26.
Hosted at State College Area High School, students from State High, the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center, Huntingdon County Career and Technology Center, Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology and Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology went head-to-head to demonstrate their culinary skills.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Colvin, two-time winner of the TV show “Chopped,” assisted students throughout the day, answering questions and giving advice. Colvin also served as the head judge for the competition.
Each team was given one hour to orient themselves in the kitchen and one additional hour to cook and plate an appetizer and entree from ingredients provided in a mystery box. Huntingdon cooked their way to victory with recipes that included pork shoulder, ghost pepper hot sauce, raw yucca and two meals-ready-to-eat, commonly used in the Army.
“Every team was very different in what they made and how they approached their dishes. They were all very creative,” said Zach Lorber, State High culinary instructor and chef.
State High’s Career and Technical Center offers a wide range of career industry courses students can explore during their studies, and a culinary arts program where students learn hands-on in a commercial kitchen about a wide range of aspects of the food service industry.
“We start at ground zero and build up from there,” Lorber explained, noting that students can start with a beginner exploratory culinary class, though many continue on for their four years of high school for a deeper dive into cooking and the food service industry. “We learn everything from handwashing and knife skills to baking, cooking, how to make sauces, recipe development and more.”
Lorber started at State High in January of 2019 and has since guided his students, who refer to him as Chef, through cultivating transferable skills they can use after graduating high school.
“Some kids come in with a ton of experience. Others don’t know how to hold a knife or peel a potato, but that’s why they’re there. They learn all of these transferable skills, so even if they don’t go to culinary school, they can still fend for themselves and use their skills in other industries.”
Lorber shared how one of his students originally joined the program wanting to be a brain surgeon, initially questioning him about what he could possibly teach her.
“Without even thinking about it, I told her the sanitation techniques, teamwork experience and knife skills she would learn were transferable skills she could use. She no longer wants to be a brain surgeon, but I’m pleased to say she has really good knife skills and is very clean,” Lorber joked.
“We’re training the next generation of chefs, restaurant owners, dietitians, food scientists. And for the rest of the kids who don’t want to do this professionally, they can cook and care for themselves. They can cook for their families. Activities like today allow students to show what they’ve learned and challenge themselves.”
Lorber also helps seniors who have been in the program for at least two years develop culinary events throughout the year as capstone projects, some of which this year included a high tea for 60 people, a Mediterranean dinner and a burger cookout. Students plan the concept, do recipe tasting, help Lorber with pricing and purchasing and work on the marketing and ticket sales of the event.
“We are so fortunate for all the opportunities we have in this district with the different technical programs, the arts and music, our athletics. A lot of that is made possible by all of the amazing teachers in the district who work so hard to see their students succeed,” Lorber said. “We’re here to cheer on these kids doing amazing things.”
