On April 26, ten Culinary II students from Woodford County High School hopped on a flight to Walt Disney World for their Annual ‘Cook Around the World’ cooking competition. Kennedy Kruse (11), Addie Thomas (11), Abbie Hudson (11), Riley Jerdon (12), Kelsey Coleman (11), Anna Haury (11), Kayla McIntyre (11), Kayla Maynard (12), Ava Crawford (11), and Elva Jantes (11) were the group of girls that attended, and they called themselves the ‘Woodford Women.’ While they were there, the girls competed against 50 other schools from across the nation.

Culinary II, the last in a series of culinary classes offered at the high school, is taught by Mrs. Raterman and it offers many opportunities for students to learn about the culinary industry. Students are cooking almost every day in class, and they even have the opportunity to become ServSafe Certified.

Disney World’s ‘Cook Around the World’ program is offered to culinary classes and schools across the nation. Each group that attends is required to cook an appetizer and an entree, and they must also decorate a box of cupcakes- all in 90 minutes.

Each group must create a cuisine that is unique to a specific continent: North America, Europe, Asia, or Africa. As long as the food is native to that continent, the team is able to create any dish they desire. The decorations on the cupcake must also represent that continent. The ‘Woodford Women’ got Europe as their continent and decided to create a Mediterranean dish. They created Lemon Herb Chicken Skewers with Couscous Salad, and they decorated their cupcake to look like Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast.

While they didn’t win the competition, they still showed off their culinary skills and had a blast while doing it. Even though they were there for the competition, the girls had plenty of time to explore each of the parks. They saw fireworks, watched a beautiful parade, snacked on delicious Dole Whip, met princesses, and most importantly, rode all of the best rides at Disney World.