Five Cy-Ridge Culinary Arts students participated in the Skills District 8 contest on Feb. 28. All five ladies took home a blue ribbon and qualify for state.

Participants were required to design and create a cake that meets the standards of the culinary industry. Their projects were scored on quality, finish, neatness, pleasing in appearance, originality, and job relevance.

Lauren Santos, 12, also took second place at the Skills District 8 commercial baking competition held at The Art Institute on February 7th. She will move on to the state level where she will be decorating a cake, baking cookies, making a pie and baking bread.

“The theme of [my cake] was Day of the Dead, and the reason why I chose that was because usually at the competition a lot of people do elegant wedding cakes and stuff like that, so I wanted to something different,” Santos said.

Senior Jackie Franco wants to make a career out of her culinary skills. She will be attending the Culinary Institute of America after she graduates from high school.

“I got my inspiration for my cake by helping my brother plan for his wedding,” Franco said. “I used flowers to represent the blooming love between both of them.”

All five students will be competing at the Skills Texas competition in Corpus Christi on March 27th.