SkillsUSA Illinois - Pekin, Illinois

Tanner O.

As a competitor in the 2017 Skills USA (Illinois) competition, I can firmly say that it is deserving of one star from my experience. I competed in the baking and pastry competition. This specific event (along with Culinary Arts) was set up and run by Kendall College of Chicago. Having been taught by an alumni of Kendall, I expected an organized, equal competition. Instead, us competitors were welcomed by rude chefs, obvious favoritism, and pure discord in organization. The chefs, when spoken to, were often curt and irritable, almost as if they would prefer to spend their time doing anything except assisting confused students. Given that this is a professional competition where students should not require help, I would let this pass, but it is worth mentioning. To the next point, the gold medalist was a girl who was more than assisted "a little" in the competition. Meaning that, when she broke down crying from stress, a chef stepped in to decorate her entire cake, and bake her cookies for her. Even after this "assistance" she was not only still allowed to compete, but she was awarded GOLD. Lastly, if I had not known otherwise, I would have believed the chefs to be students themselves. As a bin was labeled "pastry flour", a common sight at a baking competition. However, this bin actually contained powdered sugar. Meaning that me, along with about three other competitors, used this in place of cake flour in one of our cookies. At first thought, this seems like a mistake on the competitors part, until you remember that cake flour is bleached, giving it the same look as cake flour, and most people do not randomly sample their flours. When I addressed a chef about this mishap, she did not warn the other competitors, get a new lid, tell the other chefs, or even admit to being wrong. Instead, she tasted it, and claimed that I was wrong, and it was indeed, "Sweetened pastry flour". which a quick Google search will confirm, does not exist. She scolded me for wasting her time, then sent me back to work. As soon as possible, I told a different chef (A short, young woman with an implacable accent) about the incident, and she kindly confirmed that I was correct, and warned the other participants. No time was replaced, nor was a note made on my grading sheet about this mistake, and so, I was significantly penalized for a mistake that I did not make. After all of this, the date is currently, 7/6/2017 and I have yet to be given my judgement sheet. Meaning, I do not know how to improve on the mistakes that I made. In closing, if you are looking for a balanced, professional, yet still challenging competition, I would look elsewhere. This competition wasn't worth a cent of the money my parents and I worked so hard to accumulate. (NOTE: This review focuses on the Baking and Pastry program. I did hear many complaints from other programs; i.e. cosmologists working with expired products, mechanics working on cars that were broken to begin with, and others. However, I cannot confirm nor deny these accusations.)

Josh V. D.

Don't let one uneasy experience spoil the batch. I've lived next to them for over 8 years. They're a great company

Tiffani T.

Great people to work for

LeaAnn G.

Tyson H.

Corey B.

Stephanie M.

Pattie C. A.