As a part of the 21^st Century culinary program at Olathe North, Jenaea Toumberlin, senior, competed on a team with four other girls from Olathe North, and her team took third at the Kansas ProStart Invitational.

The Kansas ProStart Invitational, held on March 1-2 in Wichita, was a culinary competition that challenged students.

The first day consisted of a product check-in, where competitors checked in all of their food as well as food-costing booklets. The second day consisted of cooking.

“We had 15 minutes to show off our knife cut skills; then we had an hour of cook time,” Toumberlin said.

The dishes prepared were judged on the following: taste, skill level, cleanliness, presentation and techniques used. “The competition was not meant to be easy,” Toumberlin said. “Everything had to be correct and precise or we got docked points.”

Preparation for the competition was extensive. Toumberlin said that the team started practicing a month in advance, with practices typically running from 3:30-7 or 8 p.m.

However, as the competition drew closer, practices were held during school and on weekends.

Toumberlin said she is involved in the 21^st century program because “cooking has always been a passion of [hers].”