Davis High School Culinary Arts Team Wins District ‘Chopped’ Challenge Event

Gissele Castillo and Cristian Robles from Davis HS prepare a dish. The team won the “Chopped” Title.

The best culinary teams from across the district met head to head for a districtwide “Chopped” Challenge Event. Teams from Aldine, Davis, Eisenhower and Nimitz high schools took part. But there could only be one champion. And that title went to Davis High School.

The District “Chopped” Competition took place April 28 at Davis High School. The campus’ Culinary Arts Department hosted the event.

Journalism students with Davis HS’ Aviator Online.

[icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Student Grace Bui approached teacher Dea Haynie with the idea. Grace is a program director for the Davis Aviator online videos. Haynie leads the culinary arts class and is in charge of the two-year program. The culinary arts strand is one of the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at Davis High School.

The Aviator Online journalism students broadcast the four-hour event live. They had help from the district’s Technology Department. Grace acted as host of the event. Parents and other relatives who could not attend the event were able to watch regardless of their location.

The panel of judges included Jon Peters, manager of the Aldine Staff Development Center; Akilah Willery, program director of instructional technology; Justin Syzdek, a graduate of AISD and current Houston Community College culinary arts student; and Mike Schuester, a culinary arts student at the Art Institute. Schuester also works with Jefferson Davis High School in Houston ISD. Syzdek took part in the culinary arts program while he was a student in Aldine ISD.

The judges had a tough time critiquing all the culinary delights. But they had to choose one team as the winner. The judges eliminated teams in each successive round. The Nimitz and Davis teams were in a virtual tie. In the end, it came down to counting points from each stage of the competition. The bragging rights here went to the team of Gissele Castillo and Cristian Robles from Davis High School team.

Student teams pose with judges and organizers of the “Chopped” Challenge Competition.

Congratulations to the Davis High School team! And good luck to everyone next year in the Chopped Challenge Competition.