From the classroom to the kitchen, senior Shelby Sonderleiter has been perfecting her skills in culinary arts since she started high school.

With such a busy schedule as it is she is currently taking Culinary 2, Culinary based math and a AP nutrition class. Working full time and studying, she doesn’t have much time to participate in any high school events. Taking away for her high school experience.

She has competed in many different competitions. Shelby and her team were picked to represent Iowa at Nationals for the FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) culinary arts competition, winning a silver metal by cooking chicken with a mustard cream sauce, broccoli
with classic rice and to end it with a apple danish trifle.

The most challenging thing she’s had to do was prioritizing what she wanted and what she needed to do to accomplish her goals in life. Throughout this whole experience Shelby was constantly giving up so much time in the social world to focus on what’s next.

She has two mentors Jay Veers and John Anders helping her to perfect her skills and giving her advice guiding her throughout the way.

“I got into culinary arts by just thinking about traveling the world doing what I love, which is cooking,” says Sonderleiter.
She has already had plans going to DMACC and getting her associates degree. Shelby has been offered a spot at Le Cordon Bleu for four years total, spending two of those years in California and the other two in Paris but has not made up her mind about going.

With such a wonderful opportunity at her fingertips she doesn’t want to move so far way from her family even though that’s her dream. Le Cordon Bleu maybe one of the most prestigious college of culinary arts and is very hard to get accepted into. Still being undecided she has to eventually pick if she will venture out of the four corners of her home state, Iowa.