Learning a life skill, cooking

Cooking is an art and a skill. These days it is a life skill. To live an independent life in its true sense, one should hone the skill of cooking. To create interest in the geckos towards cooking, The Gaudium has provided the geckos of Grades 8 to 11 CBSE and CAIE with a platform – an event – the inter-tribe MasterChef Competition, on the 20th of July. It was organised as a part of CAS, exposing two of its learning strands – creativity and service.

It was solely a student-driven event. To make it more interesting and competitive, it was organised as a school inter-tribe cooking competition. A meticulous planning had gone into this event – the geckos from Grade 8 to 11 CBSE and CAIE were divided into multiple groups as per their school tribes. Each group was given a budget and a dish of its choice to be cooked within a stipulated time, which was common for all the teams. The ingredients and quantity were decided by the tribe captains and were brought by them. The participating groups have selected their dishes in a way that they would sell and give back the cost incurred. Much to the satisfaction of the participants, it generated a good amount as profit.

Firstly, the geckos advertised their menu two days in advance to create the excitement and hype. On the day of the event, they had settled in groups before time and like professional chefs started cooking at the blow of the whistle. The Chartwells Kitchen Chefs have judged the competition on different parameters which included: taste; planning; nutritional content; team work; to name a few. The chef who judged the competition was amazed at the presentation of the dish, team coordination and most importantly the marketing skills of the geckos. The Gaudium staff encouraged the geckos by buying, spending generously in fact, on the mouth watering food items the geckos prepared.

For the geckos it was a proud moment, as they could organise the first student-led event of the new school year, under the leadership of their newly sworn in Student Prefect Council. What was visible for the audience were their organizational and managerial skills. It was a huge success as the geckos participated enthusiastically in cooking and mastered even the culinary skills. This event definitely has given the geckos an opportunity to exhibit their cooking and culinary skills.

More than that, it gave them a realisation that cooking doesn’t need to be associated with any gender rather it is a life skill that all should strive to acquire. The other skills the geckos mastered were of the time, business and money management. They planned their expenses carefully, made a good amount as profit and contributed it to the Gecko Fund which would be used in the future for a cause they choose to support.

 

Some pictures: