Culinary students at MVHS bake pies for competition fundraiser and donations

Students in the Culinary Arts 3 class at Mount Vernon High School have been putting their skills to use to bake pies for their competition fundraiser, with any pies that they don't sell being donated to local organizations ahead of Thanksgiving! Students are raising money to attend the New York State Restaurant Association ProStart Invitational at the Culinary Institute of America in February. 

Students baked coconut custard, sweet potato and apple crumble pies. The apple crumble pies were made with a personal touch, as Culinary Arts Teacher Samantha Cohen shared her grandmother’s recipe with the students. About eight students plan to compete in the cooking competition, so they are raising money for transportation and hotels to accommodate them.

The competition, which several students competed in last year, provides students with the opportunity to earn scholarships and compete in different activities such as cooking burgers. Both students who competed last year earned a $2,000 renewable scholarship to Johnson & Wales University.

After families were displaced by the fire in Mount Vernon over the weekend, Chef Cohen decided to pledge the remainder of their pies to support the families ahead of Thanksgiving with handmade desserts.