Caldwell Students Cook With Former MasterChef Contestant

When Danielle Porch, principal of Caldwell Elementary Academy, first met Chef Corey Rice, she says it was a “godsend.”

The after-school culinary program that Caldwell hosts every Wednesday had been going four years strong, but was having trouble retaining an instructor, says Porch.

A former teacher at the school had introduced Rice to the principal.

“When I met him it was simply ideal,” says Porch. “The kids gravitated to him and he loved the kids. It was like a match made in heaven.”

A South Side resident and a former contestant on Fox’s MasterChef, Rice says helping out in the community is “what it’s all about.”

Students ranging from sixth to eighth grade are given fresh ingredients and put to the task of preparing a meal from scratch. They have ranged from shrimp macaroni to chicken sliders.

Porch says, while the food is “delicious,” the most important lesson the students learn every session is the power of teamwork.

Watch the students prepare no-bake apple cookies and discuss how cooking at Caldwell makes life tastier every Wednesday.