Choos­ing a ca­reer can be daunt­ing, and most high school stu­dents ap­proach the de­ci­sion with trep­i­da­tion.

Those who want to pur­sue a culi­nary ca­reer may be es­pe­cial­ly be­wil­dered about how to turn their dreams in­to re­al­i­ty. They write the CXC Food and Nu­tri­tion ex­am and then ask them­selves, "What next? How do I be­come a chef in a ho­tel or restau­rant? Do I have what it takes to achieve this goal?" Thanks to a new and ex­cit­ing cook­ing com­pe­ti­tion, Food and Nu­tri­tion stu­dents can now find out first-hand what it takes to be­come a pro­fes­sion­al chef. T&T's Best High School Chef was of­fi­cial­ly launched at the Pleas­antville Sec­ondary School re­cent­ly. Teach­ers and stu­dents were present for a first hand view of the pro­gramme's co-or­di­na­tor, Chef Kirk O'Neil Lewis, at work in the school's Food and Nu­tri­tion de­part­ment.

Lewis urged stu­dents to fol­low their dreams and to nev­er give up, to work hard at mak­ing their dreams in­to a re­al­i­ty. Dur­ing his speech and in­ter­ac­tion with stu­dents, Lewis pre­pared a three-course lunch menu, and showed stu­dents what it would be like as a chef in a restau­rant.

Dur­ing the launch, Chef Lewis made this com­ment about the com­pe­ti­tion: "I wish there was some­thing like this when I was in high school. T&T's Best High School Chef is a pow­er­ful and ef­fec­tive way for stu­dents who want to en­ter the culi­nary world to see ex­act­ly what they're get­ting in­to. It's a fast-paced and ex­haust­ing ca­reer, but I love every minute of it. "This com­pe­ti­tion will show stu­dents that the food in­dus­try is a vi­able ca­reer path, with in­nu­mer­able re­wards. Al­so, com­pet­ing against oth­er schools will help stu­dents de­vel­op team spir­it and school pride. I can see that this event will be some­thing all F&N stu­dents look for­ward to each year."

The re­gion­al leg of the com­pe­ti­tion will take place be­tween April and June next year. Three teams from each re­gion will com­pete in the fi­nals, card­ed for Sep­tem­ber 2010. The Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion has en­thu­si­as­ti­cal­ly en­dorsed this pro­gramme and has giv­en per­mis­sion for all sec­ondary schools to par­tic­i­pate. Schools con­tact­ed have al­ready shown a keen in­ter­est in tak­ing part in the event. Con­tact Chef Kirk O'Neil Lewis at 762-2915, or email him at dtrinichef123@ya­hoo. com, for ap­pli­ca­tion forms.