It Has to Be Theirs: A Championship Season, in the Students' Words

In Part Three of the culinary series, Community Forum continues the discussion with three Carlsbad High School ProStart students — Camille, Avery, and Myka — for a wide-ranging conversation about the year behind the program’s state championship sweep. Camille competed on the management side; Avery and Myka on the culinary team. What unfolds is less a victory lap than an honest look at what a championship season actually costs, and what it gives back.The conversation wanders in the best way. A first-ever trip to Whole Foods turns into a full-blown fruit expedition — a mystery melon that looked more like a dragon egg than anything edible, and a reveal stranger than any of them expected. There’s talk of quenelles becoming an unlikely superpower, of learning to do the exact thing you’re most afraid you’ll ruin, and of what it actually feels like to defend the management side of the house when someone’s face falls at the word “management.”But the students don’t shy away from the hard parts, either — the early mornings, the late-night equipment orders, the tears of frustration, the disagreements that come when there’s no break and no extra time. They talk about the teamwork math of it all: how a group of strong, very different individuals learns to pull together without butting heads. And one senior reflects on why the program won’t die when this class graduates — there will always be someone coming up behind them.Running underneath all of it is something teacher Amanda Hale keeps returning to: It has to be theirs. The skills, the wins, the growth — the program can help them get there, but the students have to pick it up and run.For anyone who’s ever wondered what these students actually carry home from a competition, this conversation is the answer.Anyone interested in supporting the Carlsbad High School culinary program can reach Amanda Hale at [email protected], or send a donation check with a letter or memo directed to Culinary Arts via the Carlsbad High School central office.Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com).The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. Get full access to KCCC Eddy County Dispatch at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe