Young Chef Competition

Can you plan and cook a meal for two?

Do you have interesting and creative ideas about food?

If so, read on ...............

The competition has two rounds. 

For Round 1 you plan a healthy meal consisting of a main course and dessert. This should be a meal for two and should not cost more than £12. You list the ingredients and the methods that you would use to prepare it.
 

Entries should be emailed to   midhertsrotary@ymail.com  by Friday 25th January.    Don’t forget to include your name, email address and phone number.

Six entries will be selected for Round 2, the Cook-Off, on the basis of quality of the menu, including the colour and balance of ingredients, nutritional content, visual appeal and originality.

For the Cook-Off, you will be asked to prepare, cook and serve your chosen meal. You will be provided with a £12 voucher for Waitrose WGC to purchase the ingredients for the recipe you have submitted.  If you are selected we will inform you by Friday 1st February.

Whilst you are preparing and cooking your meal, you will be watched, guided and assessed on your cooking skills by the judges. Once all the meals have been cooked the judges will taste the meals and make their final decision on the winner and award the prizes.

The Cook-Off will be at Monk’s Walk School on Saturday 9th February 2013 from 10.30am to 2.00pm (cooking from11 am to 1 pm). There will be prizes for the winners and the overall winner will go on to the district final on 23^rd February and, if successful, to regional and national finals.

To enter, copy the entry form below and email it along with your menu, including ingredients and methods, to midhertsrotary@ymail.com

Let’s get cooking!

There is information about last year's competition at midhertsrotary.blogspot.com  You need scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Show earlier posts".  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at this email address.

Young Chef 2013

 MID HERTS ROTARY

(Rotary Clubs of Welwyn Garden City, Brookmans Park, Hatfield & Potters Bar)

 ENTRY FORM

Name                                                     

Home Address                                      

                                                                 

                                                                  

Phone 

e-mail 

Date of birth                                                    

School/Organisation                             

                                                             

Menu to be prepared           

                           Main course

                           Dessert   

Please attach a copy of all recipes - ingredients and method.  Please highlight any inclusion of nuts of any kind.

If selected you will need to be available for the cook-of on Saturday 9^th February2013 between 10.30am and 2.00pm.  In the event of bad weather this will be re-arranged for Saturday 16^th February at the same time.

Please return this entry form to John Walton at midhertsrotary@ymail.com

by Friday 25th January 2013

Youth Speaks - the public speaking competition

The local heats of this national competition were held recently, with a Potters Bar/Brookmans Park heat and a Welwyn/Hatfield heat being organised by Mid Herts Rotary.  The competition gives students the opportunity to develop their public speaking and presentation skills. There are two age groups for the competition, Intermediate (11-13 year olds) and Senior (14-17 year olds), each team being made up of 3 students.

Dame Alice Owen Intermediate Winners

Dame Alice Owen Senior Winners

Brookmans Park and Potters Bar Rotary clubs held their heat at Dame Alice Owen's school on 19th November and  there were 5 Intermediate teams and 3 Senior teams. The teams were from Chancellors, Dame Alice Owen's and Mount Grace schools. The topics included 'Homework Should Be Reduced', 'The Effects Of Video Games' and 'The Importance Of Languages'. It made for a very interesting evening and gave the judges a very hard task of selecting winners. The Intermediate winners were Mimi Zhao, Oisin McGoldrick and Ben Jacobs from Dame Alice Owen's arguing for 'Restrictions On Free Speech' and the Senior winners were Jacob Davies, Robert Tomlinson and Annabelle Toon also from Dame Alice Owen's arguing very convincingly that 'Males Should Be Allowed To Wear Make-Up'.

The Welwyn Hatfield competitors

Welwyn GC Rotary Club organised the Welwyn Hatfield heat on 22nd November at Monks Walk School with teams from Monks Walk and Onslow St Audreys Schools taking part with three Intermediate teams and two Senior teams.  Topics included the dangers of the Guinness Book of World Records, raising the legal alcohol age and whether illegal downloading is killing the music industry.  The winners of the Intermediate section were Megan Bonfield, Luke Penson and Youcef Solomon of Monks Walk School speaking on "Titanic:Man's Vanity" and, in the Senior section Jack Bonfield, Adam Penson and Joel Khalili also of Monks Walk on the subject of “Hermitry”.  Again the judges had a hard time adjudicating after a very interesting and entertaining evening.The winning teams will now go on to the District semi-finals in Hitchin and Luton at the beginning of February and we wish them all the very best of luck.

Young Digital Artist Results

There were 21 entries, 12 in the Junior section, 8 in Intermediate and 1 in Senior.

Junior             Winner           Tamzin Clarke of Knightsfield School with an animated movie

                        Second          Rachel Robinson of Bishops Hatfield School with a still image

                        Third               Lillie Lamb also of Bishops Hatfield School with a still image

Intermediate  Winner           Jasmine Barron of Dame Alice Owen School with a still image

                 Second          Robert White of Monks Walk School with a still image “Hairy Dragonfly”

                        Third equal (twice) Robert White of Monks Walk School with still images

“Beach Groynes” and “Peacock Butterfly”

Senior             Winner           Eireni Moutoussi of Dame Alice Owen School with a still image

(Although Eireni was the only entry in the Senior section, on the judges’ marks she would have won the competition over all.)

The standard of the entries was very high this year, although there were more still images and fewer entries of other types.

The judges were      Chris Cardell-Williams, graphic designer

                                    Tim Lee, chief designer, Signature Gifts Ltd

                                    Matt Walton, independent web and app product manager

Young Digital Artist 2012

Can you produce

movies, stills, web pages that have that extra artistic something?

Do you use digital media to extend your art work?

If so, then this competition is for you.  You have to be between 11 and 19 (on 31st August 2011) and live, work or study in Mid-Herts (ie Welwyn, Hatfield, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar or the surrounding areas).  The competition will be in 3 age groups, 11-13, 14-16 and 17-19.

What do you have to do? 

·        Submit your piece of work electronically in a commonly-used file format to Rtn John Walton by 31^st May, either by email to midhertsrotary@ymail.com or on CD, DVD or USB memory device to 18 Sheepcote, Welwyn GC, AL7 4QD. 

·        You also need to attach an entry form (you can copy the one below into your word processor) with your name, contact details, date of birth and an indication of where you live, work or study in the area.  You can also include any background information about your entry.

You are allowed to incorporate elements you haven’t created PROVIDED

(1)   They are copyright-free or you have the copyright owner’s permission to use them.

(2)   You identify what you have used and where it came from in the text file submitted with your entry.

Yes, you can enter coursework – but it will be judged on different criteria.

There will be gift voucher prizes for winners and runners up as well as the glory of winning and an excellent addition to your CV and NRA.

The entry will be your intellectual property but may be used by the Mid-Herts Rotary clubs for display or publicity purposes.

OK?  The full rules are at the bottom of this post.  Any questions, contact John Walton at midhertsrotary@ymail.com.

ENTRY FORM

Name                                                    

Home Address

                                                              

                                                Phone

                                                e-mail

Date of birth                                         

School/Organisation                            

                                                             

Background information about your entry          

Sources used              Any material contained in your entry which is not your own work should be credited here

                              .

Please return this entry form with your entry to John Walton at midhertsrotary@ymail.com

by Thursday 31st May 2012

*****************************

Young Digital Artist - Rules

This is a local competition for 11 to 19 year olds in the area covered by the four Rotary clubs.  It is designed to encourage the production of digital artifacts of artistic merit.  These could take the form of web pages or files in a standard format that may contain a combination of text, moving and/or still images.

Eligibility:  The competition is open to anyone aged between 11 and 19 years old on 31^st August of the year preceding the competition who lives, works or studies in the towns of Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar or Brookmans Park or the immediately surrounding areas of Hertfordshire.

Age groups:  The judging will be done in three separate age groups;  junior for 11-13 year olds, Intermediate for 14-16 year olds and Senior for 17-19 year olds. Collaborative entries are allowed, but they will be entered in the age group of the oldest member of the group and this will be taken into account in the judging.

Judging:  There will be a panel of three judges with artistic or media backgrounds.  Entries will be judged on artistic merit and technical achievement, the two aspects being equally weighted.  The judges will normally wish to interview the authors of winning entries to ensure the work’s authorship.

Use of elements from other sources: It is permissible to incorporate elements which are not original providing that they are copyright-free or the copyright holder’s permission for their use has been obtained. The use must be acknowledged and the details of the source given.

Closing date:  All entries must be received by the end of May.  Winners will be informed by 10^th July at the latest and results will be notified to all entrants

Submissions: These must be sent to the organiser and may be made via email or on USB memory device, CD or DVD.  They must be in a commonly-used file format.  The submission will consist of the artefact for consideration, along with a text file containing

• details of the author (or authors),
• contact details, including an email address
• date of birth and
• evidence of geographical eligibility (normally a statement of home, work, school, college or university address).

Organiser: Rtn John Walton, 18 Sheepcote, Welwyn GC, AL7 4QD    Email: midhertsrotary@ymail.com

Young Chef Regional Final

Zoe Antoniou from Chancellors School made it through to the Regional Final at Thurrock on the basis of a stunning menu at the District Final in Hitchin.  She opted to use the same menu but with some improvements suggested in the feedback at the District Final.  The competition was even tougher this time and unfortunately, despite another excellent meal, she did not progress to the National Final.  This was a wonderful achievement for her first time in the competition and the food she produced was of exceptional quality.

Zoe's complete meal

Her Dessert

Anxious competitors awaiting the results.

Zoe receives her certificate and goody bag of prizes

The winner's entry

Young Writer Results

There were over 30 entries in the local competition, all in the Intermediate age group.  The winner  in the prose section Theo Charalambus was with Sebastian Lee as runner-up, while in the poetry section the winner was Alexia Koumi.  Their entries, along with other highly commended ones were entered into the District competition and when the winners were announced there was a clean sweep for Mid Herts Roatry competitiors with Sebastian Lee winning the prose section with Milly Georgiou as runner-up, and Hannah Andrusier winning the poetry section, pipping Abigail Clark in second place.  All these competitors were from Dame Alice Owen School in Potters Bar.

The first two in prose and in poetry in each section of the District competition were submitted to the national competition against 30 other Intermedaite entries from all over Britain and Ireland.  The winner was Cherie Bridges from Newtown in Mid Wales and the runner-up was Eve Taggart from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland, but in third place was Sebastian Lee, a fabulous achievement against such stromg competition.

Rotary Technology Tournament 2012

Could you build a machine to separate coins into different denominations and count how many of each type there are?  That was the challenge presented to 20 teams from local schools and colleges in this year’s Rotary Technology Tournament.  For the foundation level, for competitors up to 14, this involved 1p and 2p coins with more denominations added for the intermediate and advanced levels for older students.

Competition was fierce in all the age groups and there was a wide variety of different approaches involving sliding and rolling and one machine that seemed to have been inspired by the TV show “Total Wipeout”.  The hall at Oaklands College was a hive of activity all day and at the end each team had to demonstrate their machine to the judges from local Rotary clubs and the Herts Engineers Lunch Club.  The day was organised by Hatfield Rotary Club on behalf of Mid Herts Rotary, and led by Rtn Frank Taylor.

Advanced winners with District Governor John Bromley

Foundation winners 

The Foundation winners' machine

Intermediate winners

The teachers' machine in action.

Teams were marked throughout the day on their planning of the task and had to produce a portfolio explaining their solution to the problem and how they had arrived at it. Construction of the machines demonstrated practical skills learned at school. When the marks were all totted up the winners in the Foundation section were Monk’s Walk School with James, Amy, Megan and Luke.  In second and third places were teams from Stanborough School and Onslow St Audreys. The Intermediate winners were also from Monk’s Walk: Georgina, Katy, Zak and Ben.  In both second and third places were teams from Stanborough School. The winners of the Advanced section were more students taught at Stanborough School : Nathan, Oliver, Jack and Chantal. Monks Walk School and Oaklands College were in second and third places. Students are all eligible to receive Crest Awards for their efforts.

Winners were presented with their prizes by Rotary District Governor John Bromley.  An excellent day all round, clearly enjoyed by the students and even the accompanying teachers; their team managed three different solutions and they demonstrated the best successfully to the judges, to prove they can still cut it!.

Young Chef District Final

Young Chef had a very successful local heat, as a result of which  Zoe from Chancellors School went on to the District Final at North Herts College.  She met even stiffer competition from eight other finalists from all over Herts, Beds and Bucks.  This time she had to produce three courses instead of two.  Her menu of leeks with quails eggs and vinaigrette, then saffron marinated sea bass on crushed new potatoes with stir-fry peppers and courgettes with a sauce vierge, followed by layers of filo pastry filled with white chocolate cream and raspberry and elderflower jellies was stunningly presented and absolutely delicious.  As a result she was a deserved winner and now goes forward to the Regional Final at Grays in Essex at the end of March.

Youth Speaks Results

Youth Speaks is the public-speaking competition for teams of three, a chairman, a main speaker and a vote of thanks.  It is in two age groups, Upper(14-18 year olds) and Intermediate (11-14 year olds) There were two local heats in November and, as a result, both Upper and Intermediate teams from Bishops Hatfield Girls and Dame Alice Owens schools and two Intermediate teams from Chancellors School went through to the District semifinals in January, which were extremely hard-fought.  Both the Bishops Hatfield teams and one of the Chancellors teams won through to the District final where there were six teams in each section.  

There were some fascinating topics, including an impassioned plea that “We should maintain the Union” on Scottish Independence, the down side of Christmas, Mancinism (left-handedness, in case you are wondering!) and “Are men stronger than women?”.   It was an excellent evening at Rothamstead Research and Conference Centre in Harpenden but with only one team from each section progressing to the Regional final.    Regrettably none of our local teams won that honour, Parmiters School Watford winning the Upper section and Hitchin Boys School the Intermediate competition,  but all our teams acquitted themselves very well and India Hammond from Bishops Hatfield was chosen as the best chairman in the Upper section. 

Youth Speaks Public Speaking Competition

MHR held two heats of the competition, one in Potters Bar and one in Hatfield. As a result, 6 teams from Bishops Hatfield Girls, Chancellors and Dame Alice Owens Schools went through to the District semi-finals. There was more success and as a result Intermediate teams from Bishops and Chancellors and the Upper team from Bishops will appear in the District Final at Rothamstead research and Conference Centre in Harpenden on Thursday. Good luck to them all!

Some very heated activity!

Winner Zoe with Welwyn GC Rotary Club President David Nice

Rotary Young Chef

There were 15 entries in the local heat of the competition from Chancellors, Monks Walk, Mount Grace, Onslow St Audreys and SirFrederic Osborn Schools. 6, selected by the judges, took part in the cook-off at Monks Walk on 4th Feb and produced some fabulous dishes. The judges were David Aitken, chef from the Wagonners pub & restaurant at Ayot Green, Michael Burn from John Lewis Welwyn, Ryan Stannard from Waitrose and Choon Teoh, owner of the Hakalok Restaurant at Shoplands WGC. The competitors ingredients were sponsored by Waitrose and prizes by John Lewis Welwyn. By coincidence, Ryan himself got to the National Final of the competition in its early days some years ago. The winner was Zoe Antoniou from Chancellors School, with Ellie Lovelock from Sir Frederic Osborn School 2nd and Charlie Murphy from Onslow St Audreys School 3rd.
Zoe now goes on to the District Final at North Herts College in Hitchin on Saturday 25th Feb. Good luck Zoe!

The winners and the judges.