This idea was created at the end of last year. As a returning RA, Emily did not let go of this idea. Emily wanted a way to collaborate with our advocacy offices and other offices on campus where students could learn something and have fun. Iron Chef Academic Village (AV) was born. Students would have an opportunity to learn how to cook a specific food or cuisine. The teams would then submit their grocery lists one week later. Two weeks after the initial cooking lesson the Iron Chef AV challenge would start. Working with a fellow RA, Travis Hall, Emily partnered with the Chinese Club to start the first Iron Chef AV competition.

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Emily attended the first floor meeting for all 12 floors within the Academic Village Residence Hall in order to promote Iron Chef AV. At these meetings Emily handed out sign-up forms for teams of four students. Emily held an initial informational meeting on September 4th to see how many teams she had signed up, and to find a common time for the first cooking lesson. Emily had 24 teams sign-up. On September, 11th Emily coordinated the first cooking lesson. While the lesson needed to be attended by at least one person from each team, the lesson was open to all students in teh Academic Village. Approximately 65 students joined the Chinese cooking lesson in the Academic Village Kitchen with Professor Chang. Professor Chang taught students how to make potstickers, and also shared cultural information. One week later grocery lists came in from 14 teams and Emily went grocery shopping before the challenges that took place on Saturday Sept. 27th and Sunday Sept. 28th. Emily and Travis coordinated judges from the Chinese Club at Colorado State University for the two days. On challenge day Emily divided all of the food and and oversaw the competitions. At the end of the competition 7 teams emerged as champions and will move on to the next challenge.

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From the start Emily had the goal of working with the Advocacy Offices on campus. By working with our Advocacy Offices (Native American Student Services, Asian Pacific American Student Services, Black Student Services, Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgeder Student Services, Office of Women's Programs and Studies, El Centro, and Resources for Disabled Students) Emily was hoping that students would become aware of their presence and also get to know staff in the offices.

Emily also had the goal of helping students learn about cooking and utilize the kitchen spaces available in the Academic Village. The Academic Village is the newest residence hall at Colorado State University. The kitchens were not fully functioning last year, and Emily wants to promote their use this year throught this progrmming.

The Academic Village is a Residential Learning Community where students are academically focused. Emily also saw this program as an opportunity for students to get to know one another outside of the classroom and outside of study groups. She also saw this as a way for students to balance their school work and extracurricular things.

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On the 11th there was an opportunity for all students to learn how to cook potstickers. Students that were at the cooking lesson were able to see the technique of making potstickers, and were also able to have hands on time. This is a skill they will have for a lifetime. Students also learned abotu Chinese culture from Professor Chang.

On challenge day students were able to work together and create a meal together. This opportunity has resulted in memories of their first year of college and also getting to know people on their team a little better. Students came up to Emily after the program and thanked her personally for this opportunity. For those students who were strugling to get to know people in their community this was a wonderful opportunity for them to do just that.

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Emily put a lot of thought and quite a few hours into this program. Seeing the students taking notes and then cooking with smiles on their faces during the lesson to me signified a successful program. Also, the participation/partnership with the Chinese Club was also a positive step in the direction of collaborating in the future. On Challenge day, students worked together in their teams, and had fun while cooking. While the program took a lot of organization and time it was worhtwhile and helped students learn outside of the classroom about a culture different from their own.

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This program could be adapted to other campuses by talking with offices or departments who would be willing to come in and teach students to cook a certain cuisine and also teach them about the culture. Also, it would require a kitchen space large enough to accommodate the challenges. It could also be adapted by focusing only on the cooking/cultural lesson.

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