GLOW Academy cook-off judged by professional chefs

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The young women at GLOW Academy spent part of their Friday in the kitchen.

“The kids get to work with their hands every time they come into the cooking elective. They get an opportunity to take some ownership over the project that they’re working on and that also leads to them wanting to try things that they’re a little bit skeptical about,” said Jahleese Ladson, GLOW Academy’s college bound coordinator.

Sixteen weeks of work culminates in a cook-off between four groups of students.

They compete to see who can make the best dish and professional chefs serve as judges.

“I think it’s exciting, it’s fun. A lot of schools don’t do things like this so it’s good to get opportunities like this,” said 7th grader Halle Bowens.

Christi Ferretti from Pine Valley Market said seeing how well the students worked together impressed her.

“We weren’t allowed to interact too much with the kids, unless we were correcting technique or maybe giving them a tip or a trick. They had to really handle the recipe from start to finish on their own, but it was fun to see them working together, collaboratively, to get to an end product,” said Ferretti.

Although the chefs deemed one dish the best, all of the students were winners because they gained skills they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Another professional chef is coming to Wilmington in support of the GLOW Academy students: Guy Fieri!

He’ll be at the Country Club of Landfall next Friday for a gourmet breakfast. You can find tickets here.