Teachers at Aliso Niguel will be holding a chili cook-off in February. Ms. Wright has been the reigning champion of the past chili cook-offs and aims to keep her title.
Many of the teachers and staff at Aliso Niguel have come together and participated in the competition. The contest is a part of the monthly events held by the staff club. The staff club is a small independent club of teachers and staff members of the school that helps hold celebrations.
In February, the chili contest is held. Other events for the year include a Friendsgiving potluck in November, a Christmas cookie exchange in December, a doughnut party in January and a salsa contest in March.
A member of the Staff Club as well as a teacher at Aliso Niguel, Ms. Smith, comments, “We get a decent amount of staff to participate, around 80. The goal is to build teamwork.”
The Staff Club collects money from teachers who participate in the activities and help set up small events for the staff to enjoy.
The winner for the last chili contest earned a belt as their reward. With Ms. Wright expecting to be victorious again, she’s hoping for a better reward such as a parking spot.
The contest began back in 2020 as a mac-n-cheese contest, however it switched to chili to even the chances of winning for the staff. The contests stopped once Covid hit but recently returned last week.
Wright has been making chili for her family for many years. Her long time of making it has helped her create a great dish for the cook-off.
Mrs. Wright shares, “I have two boys and a husband, so I’ve had to find ways to make a good meal that could just feed them. Now chili though, I have had a long time to perfect that over the years.”
The chili cook-off has yet to happen this month but Wright is expecting to take home another victory. With twenty Aliso Niguel staff members participating in the competition, the cook-off this year is going to be a nice break for teachers to build stronger work relationships.
