Friday morning at the Embassy Suites in Kissimmee, 125 Osceola County students filled the air with the smell of sauté and the clatter of cookware at the third annual Osceola Cooks! Culinary Competition. The event was about practicing skills— and a chance for high school and technical college students to prove themselves and to connect with local hospitality leaders, including one former competitor now thriving in the industry.
Students from Osceola, Poinciana and Tohopekaliga High School, Zenith Accelerated Learning Academy and Osceola Technical College tackled challenges like the fast-paced Waiter’s Relay, precise Knife Skills, and Mystery Menu (similar to the television show Master Chef), where students were partnered with a chef mentor and instructed to prepare a meal with specific ingredients provided.
“You’ve seen on TV when they open the box and they see items and they’re like, ‘Okay,’” said Joe Trybus, a coordinator with Osceola’s Career and Technical Education. “[Cooks] start with a blank slate, and they have to get set up with all of their equipment, and then they have an hour to cook. They have 10 minutes prior to that hour with an executive chef to plan what they’re going to cook,” he said.
Teams of students selected their protein, starch, and vegetable from a pantry, and once their meal was completed, they produced two plates: one for the judges to taste, and one for presentation. The nervous students stood before judges from top hospitality names, including Walt Disney Resorts and Loews Hotels, as they evaluated the students’ creations.
The broader goal of the competition was to show students career opportunities within the culinary field, which will lead to future employees for the hospitality industry. That goal has been met— and exceeded— by 20-year-old Melanie Bezold, an event coordinator with Embassy Suites who competed in Osceola Cooks! two years ago.
“I did all four years with Ms. Woodring [at Osceola High School], and I got a lot of networking opportunities,” Bezold said. She started working at the Ritz-Carlton her junior year of high school and continues to work there and at Embassy Suites while attending the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida on a full-ride scholarship.
Bezold said the competition is a good learning and networking experience for students.
“It’s definitely a great experience to put on resumes scholarship applications,” she said.
At the end of the competition, students were treated to lunch and an awards ceremony. But they took away more than trophies that afternoon: they earned valuable experience and connections that will help them advance in their path to careers in hospitality.
