The Salsa and Guac Cook-off is back! After a two year hiatus, this festive competition, hosted by the Spanish Club, brought the PDS community together to celebrate Spanish language and culture. Students worked over the weekend to create their dishes and presented their best salsa and guacamole recipes. They brought their flavorful dishes to the Campus Center during C&C on Monday, April 13, where they got a taste of their competition.

This event brought smiles, laughter, and positive energy to students and faculty at PDS, and it would not have happened without the help of our community. The Spanish Club co-heads, senior Amy Lin and junior Zarna Kalra, organized and planned every detail of the cook-off. From putting up posters to sending numerous emails, they encouraged a great turnout.
“I saw all these people gathered, eating salsa and guac with their friends and laughing and being really happy. That makes me really happy inside,” said Lin.

Chef Brian also contributed greatly to the success of this event, as well as the incredible faculty judges, Mr. Schnepf, Ms. Shockey, and Sra. Scheil. The judges’ taste buds were on fire as they tasted countless delicious salsa and guacamole dishes. In the end, it was no easy task to choose only one spectacular salsa and one great guacamole winner. This year freshmen Sophia Ni and Rachel Tan were chosen as the best salsa chefs and freshmen Alana Williams and Amy Romero won the prize for the best guacamole.

While these students won the prize of best masterchefs, the biggest winners of all were the many attendees enjoying the fun event. The strong turnout and energy brought by PDS students made the event festive and joyous, and because of the Salsa and Guac Cook-off, many students were able to try great food, share family recipes, and connect with their community.