Augusta High School Student Wins Atlanta Cooking Competition

Augusta, GA—A little butter and olive oil and Ta’Quna Daniel is cooking. She’s cooking today, with a little more jingle in her pocket, than before. This weekend, the teenager won a $10,000 scholarship from Le Cordon Bleu where she’d already been accepted. “When I heard him say Ta’Q, I broke down. I fell on the floor. I was just bawling crying. My mom was crying, my sister was crying,“ she laughed.

The Richmond Academy senior plans to start culinary school in August. she says she’s always had a love for cooking, so making a career out of it just makes sense. “People all around the world, everyday people eat. Food is going to be around for a while. Food is everywhere,“ she says.

Ta’Quna whipped up the same side dish that won her the big bucks, sauteed red peppers and spinach. “The instructor came in and all he kept saying was $10,000, $10,000. When I went in the kitchen, all I was thinking about was the $10,000.“

After cooking for us, little sister Te’Auna got to be the judge. After a very, very long pause, she said, “I think it’s good.“

This fall, Ta’Quna will be attending the Atlanta campus of Le Cordon Bleu. And next week she’ll graduate from the IB program at the Academy of Richmond County.