According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of chefs and head cooks is projected to grow 11 percent from 2018 to 2028. Becoming career ready used to be an automatic thought of going straight from high school to a community college or university. However, the requirements of becoming a chef and head cook is a High School degree or equivalent. Basic skills to succeed are learned in early life like to cook basic foods, being a safe food preparer, and how to identify proper foods for meals.

The University of Kentucky Nutrition Education Program offered a Super Star Chef summer cooking camp for children ages 9-14 in Whitley County. There was a total of 17 participants and they were taught skills on how to cook basic foods, how to identify measuring, and healthy lifestyle choices. After the super star chef program offered in Whitley County, 100% of the children said they could identify healthy foods, 100% planned to drink more water every day, and 100% planned to eat more fruits. Also 94% said they planned to drink less soda and 94% planned to try new foods.

This program has been a local success and was featured in our local newspaper. The students that participated loved the program and had high energy every day. Parents have called the office talking about how much more confident their child is in the kitchen. This may have sparked one individual to make a chef or head cook their career choice. It has built a foundation of career readiness that they would not have found without the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Service Family and Consumer Sciences program and UK Nutrition Education Program.