It Has to Be Theirs: A Championship Season, in the Students' Words

It Has to Be Theirs: A Championship Season, in the Students' Words

In Part Three of the culinary series, Community Forum continues the discussion with three Carlsbad High School ProStart students — Camille, Avery, and Myka — for a wide-ranging conversation about the year behind the program’s state championship sweep. Camille competed on the management side; Avery and Myka on the culinary team. What unfolds is less a victory lap than an honest look at what a championship season actually costs, and what it gives back. The conversation wanders in the best way. A first-ever trip to Whole Foods turns into a full-blown fruit expedition — a mystery melon that looked more like a dragon egg than anything edible, and a reveal stranger than any of them expected. There’s talk of quenelles becoming an unlikely superpower, of learning to do the exact thing you’re most afraid you’ll ruin, and of what it actually feels like to defend the management side of the house when someone’s face falls at the word “management.” But the students don’t shy away from the hard parts, either — the early mornings, the late-night equipment orders, the tears of frustration, the disagreements that come when there’s no break and no extra time. They talk about the teamwork math of it all: how a group of strong, very different individuals learns to pull together without butting heads. And one senior reflects on why the program won’t die when this class graduates — there will always be someone coming up behind them. Running underneath all of it is something teacher Amanda Hale keeps returning to: It has to be theirs. The skills, the wins, the growth — the program can help them get there, but the students have to pick it up and run. For anyone who’s ever wondered what these students actually carry home from a competition, this conversation is the answer. Anyone interested in supporting the Carlsbad High School culinary program can reach Amanda Hale at amanda.hale@carlsbadschools.net [amanda.hale@carlsbadschools.net], or send a donation check with a letter or memo directed to Culinary Arts via the Carlsbad High School central office. Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com [http://www.kccc930am.com]). The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. Get full access to The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe [https://kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Perron Family Haunting: When "Fixer Upper" Meets "Get Out"

Today on KCCC930AM Radio, and available weekly in your inbox. Before The Conjuring made audiences afraid of antique furniture, the Perron family actually lived that horror movie. Their “dream farmhouse” in Harrisville, Rhode Island, came with creaky floors, creepy ghosts, and (allegedly) a witch named Bathsheba who did not come with the deed. This week, Sarah and Faren continue digging into what really went down at the Perron home — from ghostly pranks and paranormal investigators to the kind of supernatural chaos that'll make you rethink your Zillow alerts. Was the house truly haunted...or just in desperate need of a sage smudge and an exorcism-level deep clean? Listen to the full episode here: https://rss.com/podcasts/twistedandmysterious/2285337 [https://rss.com/podcasts/twistedandmysterious/2285337] Find Twisted and Mysterious on social media @twistedandmysterious or email them at twistedandmysteriouspodcast@gmail.com [twistedandmysteriouspodcast@gmail.com]. Twisted and Mysterious airs Fridays at noon and 11 PM. Listen to the full episode at the link above, and find more through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com [http://www.kccc930am.com]). The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. . Get full access to The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe [https://kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Quenelles, Lamb, and Learning It's Okay to Fail

Carlsbad High's state-champion teams sat down with Hattie again — this time with management competitor Camille Martin, and culinary team members Avery Padilla and Micah Char, alongside instructor Amanda Hale. The team breaks down exactly what goes into a ProStart competition — the rules, the roles, and what it’s actually like to pitch a fictional restaurant to judges who can’t say a word back to you until it’s over. The full menu behind the state-winning dish gets unpacked, from a delicate crepe roulotte to a blue corn hush puppy appetizer that almost didn’t survive practice rounds. Camille opens up about what it felt like watching the culinary team succeed while management’s placement didn’t land where she wanted it to, and the lesson she took from that disappointment. A conversation about chocolate tempering gone wrong, the techniques nobody warns you about, and what it means to give your best effort even when the outcome doesn’t match the work. Part 3 of this series airs next Tuesday, June 23rd. Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com [http://www.kccc930am.com]). The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. Get full access to The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe [https://kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Heat Advisory and a Week of Firsts in Eddy County

It's a scorcher out there, Eddy County. A Heat Advisory is in effect through 9 PM tonight, with highs reaching 108°F, so check on elderly neighbors, keep pets and livestock hydrated, and never leave anyone in a parked car. Full details on this week's forecast and fire danger are in the episode. This week's lineup runs from book clubs and toddler splash time to a golf tournament for the Boys & Girls Club, plus the latest on a few stories developing close to home: the New World Screwworm reaching New Mexico, a federal rollback that could affect protections in the Permian Basin, a new WIPP deadline, and an update in the investigation into a fatal hit-and-run on Standpipe Road. And out in the field, SENMC podcasting student Joe Enriquez got his first taste of mobile reporting, grabbing interviews at the library's summer reading launch while Hattie was out on her own first remote broadcast. Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com [http://www.kccc930am.com]). The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. Get full access to The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe [https://kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

State Champions: Inside Carlsbad High's Culinary Program

Carlsbad High School didn’t just win a state title this year. They won two — culinary and management, the first time CHS has swept both ProStart categories in the same year. Hattie went straight to the source: the Mountain Lion Studio hit the road to the CHS Culinary Arts Department the day after school let out, sitting down with instructor Amanda Hale and two of the students who helped get them there, Joslyn Frintz and David Balderrama. In this episode: Amanda Hale breaks down what ProStart actually is — Iron Chef rules for the culinary side (a 10-foot kitchen, two butane burners, no running water, no refrigeration), Shark Tank rules for management (pitch a fictional restaurant to judges like real investors) Joslyn talks through the dish that helped put Carlsbad on top, and the steep learning curve from her first year competing to this one David explains his role in keeping the team on time and on track during competition, and what changed in the team’s chemistry this year A conversation about long mornings, a first plane ride, a first trip to Whole Foods, and what it means to give teenagers a real taste of where their skills could take them. Part 2 of this series airs next week. Aired on KCCC 930 AM Radio and available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and through the Eddy County Dispatch (kccc930am.substack.com) or our website (www.kccc930am.com [http://www.kccc930am.com]). The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM, is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Already a subscriber? A one-time donation goes just as far. Get full access to The Eddy County Dispatch, presented by KCCC 930 AM at kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe [https://kccc930am.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]