Three Illinois high school students coached by Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts earned the distinction of top culinary team in America at the recent national Culinary Arts STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) competition during the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America’s (FCCLA) 2009 National Leadership Conference in Nashville,Tennessee.

The national Culinary Arts STAR event recognizes students enrolled in high school occupational culinary-arts/foodservice-training programs for their ability to work as members of a team to produce a quality meal using techniques and equipment typical of foodservice. Forty-one teams, consisting of finalists in statewide cook-offs, represented their respective states at this year’s competition.

“Having worked with FCCLA at the national and state levels for the last decade, I’m thrilled that we were able to help the Illinois team achieve first place this year,” says Christopher Koetke, dean of the Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts. “Kendall College has always supported the vision of high school students to become successful culinarians in our vibrant industry, and that’s why we commit the time and resources to give students from Illinois the best possible training for the annual STAR competition each year.”

In addition to their gold medals as a result of their win in Nashville, Kendall College offered the three first-place Illinois students up to $42,000 each in scholarships for the entire four-year Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts degree program (or, up to $3,500 per quarter). All other students who participated in the FCCLA competition at the national level were offered up to $9,000 each for the same program (or, up to $750 per quarter).