Senior Ashley Coates sized herself up—not just against her competition, but more importantly, herself. At the Skills USA Hot Foods Preparation Competition on Feb. 11, Coates tested her cooking skills against fellow high school students.
“I have always grown up around cooking,” Coates said. “I thought it would be a fun thing to see if I actually know as much as I think I do.”
At the competition, Coates demonstrated her knowledge of hot food storage, knife skills and preparation of a roasted chicken.
“They give her specific recipes to cook,” fellow Culinary Arts student and senior Alyssa Bainbridge said. “Most of the time it’s an entree.”
Coates said she is not necessarily interested in becoming a cook, but cooking has always been a hobby for her.
Despite that, Coates still pushes herself and her skills. “I wanted a challenge. I wanted to see if I could actually do it.”
Coates was the only student from Marshall and in Culinary Arts I who competed.
The Hot Foods Preparation Competition is one event run by the larger Skills USA organization, which offers events and workshops in professional skills.
Coates found out about the competition from the Skills USA delegate who visited her Culinary Arts class. Culinary Arts teacher Chef Ciaran Devlin said “Coates was like ‘Yeah, I’d like to try it!’”
To prepare for the tournament, Coates supplemented her normal classroom learning with skill-specific practice.
“I de-boned 20 chickens in two days,” Coates said.
According to Devlin, competing itself is also an educational experience. “Every time you compete, you learn,” Devlin said.
“I think I learned a lot about myself,” Coates said. “I realized that I’m very good at managing mental tasks.”
She has not yet received her evaluation, but is expecting a lower score. “Somebody stole my chicken,” Coates said. “It was an experience!”