Something’s cooking at Pine Ridge Middle School (PRMS). The Earl of Sandwich Competition recently wrapped up and students’ tasty creations are being served in the cafeteria daily. The goal of this innovative new competition is to cultivate students’ creativity while integrating a relationship between the classroom and the cafeteria.
Family and Consumer Science teacher Sandy Brock came up with this idea early in the school year. She tasked her students with creating a unique sandwich, made with only ingredients found in the school cafeteria.
PRMS Cooking
“I thought it would be an important activity because a lot of students eat sand-wiches, not only for lunchtime,” Brock said. “A lot of kids are on their own in the evenings with working parents, and sandwiches can be a very healthy, nutritious dinner for them.”
Brock’s three eighth grade classes finalized their masterpieces and did a live demonstration for their classmates. Then, they sampled sandwiches and voted for their favorites. The winning cooks took their demos to the big screen, creating their sandwiches live on the morning announce-ments before they were put up for sale in the school cafeteria.
Stephanie Vargas was one of these winners. Her sandwich, the “Stephwich,” is made using a large tortilla, American cheese, turkey, pepperoni, romaine lettuce, and mayonnaise.
“The first thing I do is brown the pepperoni in a skillet to build the flavors. They leave extra oils on the pan so I put the tortillas on there to give it a little extra flavor on the outside of the tortilla,” she explained. “I put the cheese on one side of the tortilla, let it melt, [then] adds the turkey.” Finally, she spreads mayo on the outside edge of the tortilla.
“Since I was a little girl, I never liked the outside edge of the tortilla because it didn’t have any flavor,” Vargas said. “So when I put the mayo on, it adds a little bit more flavor to the edge. I would eat the middle of the tortilla and just leave the crust.”
For Vargas, the inspiration for her sandwich was close to home. “I had these ingredients at my house, and my mom always told me you have to be creative with the ingredients you have on hand, so I just got creative,” she said.
Ainsley Ivy, winner for “Ainsley’s Quesadilla” shares that sentiment. “I’m sort of a picky eater, and it’s something my mom and I make together for my family. It’s quick, simple, and good,” she explained.
She created her sandwich with sautéed green pepper, pepperoni, and Canadian ham, which she placed on a tortilla on a skillet, added some cheese, threw on a second tortilla, and flipped it for perfection.
The third group of winners was made up of Camryn Addison, Gisette Velesco, and Kaitlyn Nguyen, and their sandwich the “CGK.” It’s made using toasted bread, homemade honey mustard, pepper jack cheese, turkey pepperoni, turkey, onion, and lettuce.
“The kids like seeing their peers out there creating things. It inspires them, and they think this is something they could do too,” Brock said.
The excitement is most noticeable in the school cafeteria where sandwiches are flying off the shelf. “Reactions have been very positive,” PRMS food services manager Marie Ervin said. “The kids are thrilled. When the sand-wich or quesadilla first comes out, they’re always rushing to get it. If I made 100 sand-wiches, it probably wouldn’t be enough.”
Brock hopes to see this program grow into more schools in the future.