Upstate high school culinary arts team wins state competition, places 3rd in the nation

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) –  For the seventh year in a row, The Anderson Career and Technology Center culinary arts team won first place at the South Carolina ProStart Invitational. The team then headed to nationals where they placed third out of 48 teams across the country.

Bella Downie, one of the five students on the team, said her love for cooking started when she was young and as she got older her passion grew.

“It’s almost a space to decompress from my day whenever there is stress about a test, stress about school, whatever it is, it just feels like a break from that almost like another world that I can go into where I don’t have to think about other things,” said Downie.

The team’s instructor said students practiced after school three days a week for months to prepare.

“It’s a big sacrifice on their part and it makes me so proud to see them grow and learn from where we start in the fall all the way through seven months of practice. When they compete and stand on the stage at nationals and get medals and awards and scholarships, it’s really rewarding to watch their progress from start to finish,” said Chris Moree, culinary arts teacher.

The students had an hour to cook a three course meal with no running water or electricity. They could only use two small camping burners.

“At nationals I was really excited. I felt a lot calmer, I knew what I was doing, we’ve been through the whole competition before. The set up from state and the set up from nationals was identical,” said Downie.

According to leaders, the culinary industry is growing, making it the second largest employment sector in the country.

For Downie, the journey doesn’t stop at the national event. She hopes to own her own restaurant one day.

“I plan to go to Greenville Tech to get my associates in culinary and then potentially transfer into a four year college to get my bachelors in hospitality management,” said Downie.

Every year Moree, creates a poster to commemorate the team’s success to inspire future culinary students.

“We have a pattern of success and just kind of motivate them and show them what’s available if they want to work hard for it, they could definitely be successful,” said Moree.

ACTC’S culinary arts team said they hope to win both a state and national title next year.

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