On Feb. 10 at 3 p.m., FHN’s Iron Chef team will be compet-ing at Francis Howell Central against the other schools in the district. Anyone is welcome to attend the competition to support FHN and sample free food.

“I like that we get to cook a lot,”Iron Chef Drew Moersch said. “I am really interested in being a chef so I think it is fun.”

This is the second year for the Iron Chef competition, but it is becoming a Francis Howell tradition. It was named after the popular Food Network show, which also fea-tures cook-offs.

“[Iron Chef]is a competition where students can showcase their culinary skills,” Becky Crawfordsaid.

Almost every week day since Jan.14, the students have stayed after school and practiced for the upcoming competition. Along with practicing after school, the team will also bepreparing breakfast at Church of the Shepard on Feb. 7 to further enhance their skills and experience.

“Our first step is selecting the recipes we are going to use and then[the students] prepare times,” Crawford said. “I also make them practice proper knife skills because that’s something the judges lookat [and] safety and sanitation. And, as silly as it is, posture because they have to stand up the whole time.”

For the competition, each team must prepare a main dish, a vegetable, a starch, and a salad with dressing. The foods are then judged by employees of Sodexo, the food provider for Francis Howell. The judges will be using acheck sheet to evaluate the studentsand their culinary skills.

Crawford and her team do not know what is on the check sheet, as a result, they do not know exactly what they will be judged on. The students must also answer questions asked by the judges, and anthe kids get excited about award ceremony follows the compe-tition.

“I’m pretty sure we are going to win,” chef Brittney McGlasson said. “But I just hope we have fun and every one learns fromthe experience.”

Last year, the Sodexo cooperate judge was flown in for the contest. Carin Man, a Sodexo employee, is in charge of the judging of the contest this year.

“I think it will be fun competing against other schools,” Moersch said.“I want us to win. We won last year and I want us to win again.”

The team of five, plus two alterna-tives, were chosen through a process that began before winter break. While it wasn’t a requirement, most chefs on the team have taken one or more cooking classes. Through these tryouts, Crawford was able to pick the best chefs for the team.

“ I selected recipes, hard recipes that they had to make,” Crawford said. “That showed me if they could follow directions. Everyone then had to try [the food] and critique it. If they couldn’t take constructive criticism, I let them go. I also didn’t want any superstars, anyone who would function by themselves. I needed them to be part of the team.”

Crawford believes there are several qualities an Iron Chef must possess for anyone who is interested in trying out for next year’s team.

“Dedication,” Crawford said. “Determination, they always want to improve, take more classes, read books, watch Food Network, whatever they can do. Stamina, because it’s a physically exhausting job, and eager With the competition only a week away.”

Crawford and the five Iron Chefteam members look forward to showing off their hard work.

“It’s so fun watching the kids get excited about something I love,”Crawford said. “This is a group of verydedicated students.”

On Feb. 10 at 3 p.m., FHN’s Iron Chef team will be compet-ing at Francis Howell Central against the other schools in the district. Anyone is welcome to attend the competition to support FHN and sample free food.

“I like that we get to cook a lot,”Iron Chef Drew Moersch said. “I am really interested in being a chef so I think it is fun.”

This is the second year for the Iron Chef competition, but it is becoming a Francis Howell tradition. It was named after the popular Food Network show, which also fea-tures cook-offs.

“[Iron Chef]is a competition where students can showcase their culinary skills,” Becky Crawfordsaid.

Almost every week day since Jan.14, the students have stayed after school and practiced for the upcoming competition. Along with practicing after school, the team will also bepreparing breakfast at Church of the Shepard on Feb. 7 to further enhance their skills and experience.

“Our first step is selecting the recipes we are going to use and then[the students] prepare times,” Crawford said. “I also make them practice proper knife skills because that’s something the judges lookat [and] safety and sanitation. And, as silly as it is, posture because they have to stand up the whole time.”

For the competition, each team must prepare a main dish, a vegetable, a starch, and a salad with dressing. The foods are then judged by employees of Sodexo, the food provider for Francis Howell. The judges will be using acheck sheet to evaluate the studentsand their culinary skills. Crawford and her team do not know what is on the check sheet, as a result, they do not know exactly what they will be judged on. The students must also answer questions asked by the judges, and anthe kids get excited about award ceremony follows the compe-tition.

“I’m pretty sure we are going to win,” chef Brittney McGlasson said. “But I just hope we have fun and every one learns fromthe experience.”Last year, the Sodexo cooperate judge was flown in for the contest. Carin Man, a Sodexo employee, is in charge of the judging of the contestthis year.

“I think it will be fun competingagainst other schools,” Moersch said.“I want us to win. We won last yea rand I want us to win again.”

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