<em>Photo above: Beaufort Elementary School fifth-grader Henry Lovett, center, reacts to being announced as the 2017 Future Chef winner. Photo provided.</em>

<b>Fifth-grader wins&nbsp;</b><b>Future Chef contest</b>

Fifth-grader Henry Lovett likes to cook eggs for his family’s breakfasts, and that practice paid off when he took top honors at the 2017 Sodexo Future Chef competition.

The Beaufort Elementary School student’s “Spicy Egg Wrap” recipe included fresh avocados, tomatoes, cheese and sriracha wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.

Lovett was one of 12 elementary school student finalists from across the district who prepared healthy comfort foods – this year’s competition category – for a panel of five judges at the new Advanced Technical Center at Battery Creek High School. &nbsp;

Judges awarded points based on the recipes’ originality, taste, healthy attributes, plate presentation, ease of preparation and kid-friendliness.&nbsp;

“It was so much fun to cook in front of a big crowd of people and present to the judges,” Lovett said. “Just awesome.”

The 12 finalists were chosen from more than 100 young cooks from district elementary schools who submitted recipes in this year’s challenge, sponsored by Sodexo.

For his first-place finish, Lovett was awarded a prize basket of cookware, kitchen utensils, a radio-controlled flying drone and a backpack.&nbsp; He has the chance to move on to the 2017 regional and national Future Chef competitions. &nbsp;

Lovett was assisted in the kitchen by Battery Creek High School culinary arts student Ayla Watts.

Two students tied for first runner-up.&nbsp; Mossy Oaks Elementary fourth-grader Aubrie Brown dished up baked “Zucchini Boats” filled with ground beef, tomato sauce and cheese, and M.C Riley Elementary third-grader Dylan Crosby drew the judges’ praise for her “Pineapple Salmon with Coconut Rice and Honey Carrots.” &nbsp;

Second runner-up, for her “Incognito Cauliflower Cheese Bites,” was fifth-grader Mia Campbell from Red Cedar Elementary.

Second and third runners-up won cooking utensils and herb garden kits. All participants won gift baskets.

“The number of entries keeps growing, and this was by far the biggest number yet in the five years we’ve been sponsoring the Future Chef competition,” said Roberta Edwards, general manager of Sodexo operations in Beaufort County.&nbsp; “To watch these young students in the kitchen, to witness their creativity as well as their determination and concentration, is really something to see.”

<b>TCL to hold&nbsp;</b><b>Latino Open House</b>

The Technical College of the Lowcountry will hold a Latino Open House at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 23, on its Bluffton campus.

Guests will take a tour, learn about college admissions and financial aid, and hear from attorney Olesya Matyushevsky about challenges for immigrant students.

<b>Seven district students&nbsp;</b><b>finalists in writing competition</b>

Seven Beaufort County School District students are among 72 finalists in the fourth annual South Carolina High School Writing Contest.

Four juniors were named as finalists: Sophie Bellomy, Natoria Smalls and Sarah Suber (all of Beaufort High) and Amanda Taylor (Battery Creek High). &nbsp;

Three Beaufort High seniors were also named as finalists: Morgan Mayne-Alexander, Alexandra Batista and Jessica Elkins.

“It’s really exciting to have one of every 10 South Carolina finalists be from Beaufort County,” said Superintendent Jeff Moss. “Expressing yourself well in written communications is important in virtually any career you can think of.”

The writing topic judged to determine the finalists was “How can we make South Carolina better?” Students responded in the genre of their choice – poetry, fiction, essay, drama or letter – using 750 words or less.

Round 2 of the competition – set for Friday, March 17, on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia – will include a second writing test in which finalists will respond to an impromptu topic. &nbsp;

The first-place winner in the senior class will receive $1,000 and the Walter Edgar Award, funded by University of South Carolina Honors College alumnus Thad Westbrook and named for his professor, the South Carolina historian and writer. &nbsp;

The first-place winner in the junior class will receive $1,000 and the Dorothy Skelton Williams Award, funded by an anonymous donor and named for the late upstate public school educator.&nbsp;

Second- and third-place winners in the junior and senior classes will receive $500 and $250, respectively.

The USC Press is partnering with USC’s Honors College to present the competition. Other presenting partners are Beaufort’s Pat Conroy Literary Center, the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Sciences and Young Palmetto Books, an imprint of USC Press.&nbsp;