AUGUSTA – Students from the Culinary Arts Program at Central Maine Community College were awarded first place at an event hosted earlier this month at the Blaine House by Gov. John Baldacci and First Lady Karen Baldacci.

The competition focused attention on the Maine Department of Education’s New Look of School Breakfast, an initiative designed to get more school children to eat a healthy breakfast.

The Maine Dairy Promotion Board asked chef instructors to challenge their students to create their most “dairy-delicious” breakfast recipes that can provide 20 percent of the daily value for calcium. Recipes had to include cow’s milk, cheese or yogurt as one of the main ingredients.

Leaders from the Maine Dietetic Association, the Maine Academy of Family Physicians, the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Maine School Food Service Association sampled breakfast dishes prepared by instructors and students from the five community college culinary programs in the state.

They selected as the winning entry the savory fresh herb “breadwiches” created by Suzzanah Benoit and Nate Hopkins, student chefs from the CMCC Culinary Arts program. They were presented with the People’s Choice Award and were also awarded $500 scholarships.

The culinary arts program is a one-year certificate program designed to prepare students for employment in a variety of positions in the food service industry. Students may also elect to earn an associate degree in business administration with a concentration in hospitality management. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact the admissions office at 755-5273.