Year 11 students from Caboolture State High School won multiple top honours at the Ekka Student Made Cheese Competition Awards, besting cheese entries from 25 different schools across Queensland.
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The competition took place at the 2023 Royal Queensland Show in the Brisbane showgrounds on September 8.
In the Class 2 – Mould Ripened Cheese – Blue category, Caboolture SHS students Ashlee H and Archie H took first and second place respectively. Their winning entries were called “Bluey” and “Notes.”
Third place in the category went to Beerwah State High School for their cheese “Blue Ribbon Buddies – The Blue Wheel of Fortune.”
The Caboolture State High School students’ wins demonstrate their dedication to excellence in cheesemaking.
Overall, the judges were incredibly impressed with the quality of the cheeses entered in the competition this year. “The cheeses were better than we’ve ever judged in this competition,” said chief judge and dairy expert Russell Smith.
Smith and fellow judge Mark Livemore found it hard to believe how good the student-made cheeses were, even scoring many higher than commercial cheeses they evaluated earlier this year.
About the Student Made Cheese Competition
The annual Student Made Cheese Competition offers students a unique opportunity for hands-on education about where their food comes from.
For primary school students, the competition introduces the basics of cheesemaking and the dairy industry. Secondary students can apply their knowledge of chemistry, biology, and technology while crafting cheeses to enter in the competition.
The competition builds on the free cheesemaking workshops for educators led by international dairy judge Russell Smith. These workshops give teachers the skills to lead their own curriculums on cheesemaking, which intersects with science subjects students are already studying.
The program is the only one of its kind in Australia that allows classrooms to incorporate cheesemaking into their lesson plans. Through their creations, students gain an appreciation of the dairy industry along with pride in crafting their own food from start to finish.
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The cheese competition was part of the larger Ekka dairy awards, which also included a beverage category. In total, students entered 129 cheeses and 49 beverages from 25 schools across Queensland.
Featured image: Caboolture State High School students Zyla Rubie (L) and Ashlee Hope with their awards (Photo supplied)
Published 11-September-2023
