San Bernardino City Unified School District

San Bernardino High School senior Jeanette Carrillo, competed in The Art Institute of the Inland Empire in  “Best Teen Chef competition” on April 30. Jeanette won “Best Chicken” by the french Chef Laurent Baillon. Jeanette and her ROP instructor Kim Marzullo, practiced her chopping skills, and prepared the meal in her ROP Baking Occupations class many times before the competition. Kim said, “She made me proud to be her instructor.” Jeanette competed against 12 other high school seniors from all over Southern California. They all had 90 minutes to prepare shrimp cocktail, rice pilaf, sautéed broccoli and a sautéed chicken breast in a white wine sauce. The meal was presented to a panel of 6 chef judges, one of which came from France.

At the awards presentations, the French chef called to Jeanette and told her, “I have judged many competitions and your chicken dish was perfecto!” He is one of 13 executive chefs now working in the United States. Jeanette was awarded a $500 scholarship to the Art Institute Culinary School. Jeanette plans to attend the Art Institute’s culinary program before enlisting in the Army as a cook. She would like to study culinary arts in France after her time in the Army.