WHEELING, W.Va. –The West Virginia Department of Education will once again host its annual Culineering Challenge on Thursday.
The competition, now in its fourth year, challenges CTE students to combine food and engineering. It was inspired by the hit Netflix show Baking Impossible. The show’s winner, Sara Schonour, and her teammate, Rodolfo Goncalves, will be on hand to help judge.
Emily Pearson, coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Career Technical Education, said this year’s theme is “Tea Time.” She said the teams were required to construct playable, culinary-inspired mini-golf courses based on one of West Virginia’s nine tourism regions: Eastern Panhandle, Potomac Highlands, Mountain Lakes, Metro Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Mountains, Mid-Ohio Valley, Mountaineer Country, New River- Greenbrier Valley, and Northern Panhandle.
“So, it’s a golf hole and there also incorporating a tea flavor and then West Virginia state pride with the nine tourism regions,” Pearson said.
Pearson said the event has grown larger and more exciting over the years.
She added that it also gives students the opportunity to collaborate with peers who have different skill sets.
“It also just allows these students real hands-on experience in the programs that they’re in, you know the culinary students get to show off their culinary skills, the engineering students get to show off their skills,” Pearson said. “It really allows them to get real-world experience working under pressure, collabing with each other in fields that they normally wouldn’t collaborate with.”
Nine teams will compete for the title of 2025 Culineering Champion:
Par-Tee Putters from Doddridge County High School
If the Masters Jacket FITs from Fayette Institute of Technology in Fayette County
Bogey Bears from Huntington High School/East Middle School in Cabell County
Eggcellent Engineers from John Marshall High School in Marshall County
Marion Baker Bots from Marion County Technical Center in Marion County
MCTEC Culineers from Mercer County Technical Education Center
Tiered and Geared from Spring Valley High School in Wayne County
Drive and Dine Coyotes from Wetzel County Technical Education Center
Culinary Caddies from Wheeling Park High School in Ohio County
Each team consists of six students with different roles, including two culinary students, two engineering students, one social media marketing specialist, and one builder.
Pearson said the teams are encouraged and supported by their CTE teachers to participate but added that there’s also a strong sense of competition among the students.
“I think it’s also just fun for them to compete to have the title, I mean what student doesn’t want to have that title and carry that on for the year to be the 2025 Culineering Champions, so I think that’s what pushes them is wanting to hold that title,” she said.
Last year, the competition was held at Mountwest Community and Technical College; this year, it will take place at Oglebay Resort Park in Wheeling.
Pearson said their goal is to choose locations in different parts of the state to give students the opportunity to see West Virginia for themselves.
“I think we just want to be able to travel around West Virginia and just showoff different parts of West Virginia, hold it at a different area, different venue to allow students to see different parts of West Virginia when there traveling here, so just finding a space that can accommodate the competition and accommodate everyone that’s involved,” she said.
The first-place team will receive a $5,000 classroom grant, a team trophy, and $200 for each team member, all funded by the West Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association Education Foundation. The second-place team will be awarded a $3,000 classroom grant and a custom-engraved cutting board, while the third-place team will receive a $2,000 classroom grant and a custom-engraved cutting board.
The competition will be held on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.