Three Carmel High School students preparing for the National Family, Career and Community Leaders of America cooking competition recently partnered with a local senior living facility to hone their skills. Inside the commercial kitchen at Woodland Terrace, two students worked on a dish with pork chops, quinoa and cooked veggies, while another baked cookies and cupcakes.

After qualifying for the national event in March, incoming senior Julie Hohne and incoming juniors Ryland Garner and Elizabeth Siders used the kitchen space at Woodland Terrace to fine tune their work for the FCCLA competition. Scout Phillips, who graduated from CHS this year, also qualified for the event but did not attend the event at Woodland Terrace.

“One of the main reasons for us being a practice site is because our kitchen is set up like a restaurant,” Woodland Terrace Executive Chef Nick Halstead said. “I know we are senior living, but we have everything a commercial kitchen has.”

Woodland Terrace made accommodations for the students by relocating its cooks on staff to an upstairs kitchen.

Garner said it is exciting to compete on the national level.

“I think of it as an adrenaline rush,” Garner said. “It’s a fun experience. When everything comes together, it’s just like ‘Wow, all my hard work paid off.’”

Nick Carter, CHS culinary instructor, said he is still awaiting final results from the FCCLA competition but that none of the CHS students finished in the top 10.

To learn more about the competition, visit fcclainc.org/attend/national-leadership-conference.