Empty Bowls Returns to MRHS

by Anabella V

Meat and pepper chili? Turkey chili? Chili verde? Vegetarian? All of these options were made with determination, spirit, and pure competitiveness at Mountain Range High School’s 17th annual Chili Cook-Off Contest. This year’s competition took place on February 26th, various chili’s made for MRHS staff to taste and pick out their favorites. The Chili Cook-Off Competition is an exciting and popular community event for staff and students that is not only a chance to skip out on school lunch, but to raise money for The Food Bank of The Rockies.

The competition did not come up on its own, however, but through the hard work of Colleen Dowling, MRHS’ Ceramic and Foundations of Art teacher who has taught at Mountain Range since its opening 20 years ago. Dowling came up with the idea for the competition by taking inspiration from an already international event similar to our competition created in 1990 by a teacher in Michigan with the goal to raise awareness of hunger in the world. In the beginning, the competition started with bringing in any food at MRHS, which has now turned into a chili cook-off.

The fundraiser itself is named Empty Bowls, “to raise awareness of hunger in the world,” Dowling explains. Students and staff will purchase said bowl for their chili, and keep it as “a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.” The bowls themselves are made by MRHS Ceramics students, which is another great way to get students involved. The bowls were sold for $10 dollars apiece. 

Multiple teachers every year gather together to cook up chili to serve. The event takes place in the staff office where tables are lined up holding multiple crock pots full of various chilis. Each crockpot is labeled with the type of chili and the person who made it. From here, staff can pick a chili of their choosing. However, the best chilis are not decided by staff, but by three selected judges. The three judges rate the chilis based on taste, flavor, and spiciness. There is also a popularity vote for the staff members as well. There are 4 different categories for awards: most creative, hottest, best of cookoff, and popularity. 

When asked how this fundraiser has made a difference to MRHS’ culture, Dowling replies, “It brings our staff and students together to raise money for the Food Bank of The Rockies. It also gives a chance to the ceramic students to sell their artwork, and that’s a really positive thing.” The environment within the staff room was positive and lively. Multiple teachers were stopping by and grouped all trying all the different chili’s. It’s also a time for staff members to have a nice break while also being a part of something that’s for a good cause. 

The Chili Cook Off winners of this year are Heidi Hendrix-Johnson for Best of Cook Off, Christa Frederickson for Most Creative, Sydney Street for Hottest, and William Adamsky for Most Popular.