The French Pastry school looking for next big pastry chef

CHICAGO -- The French Pastry School (FPS) of Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago is kicking off the "Mayor's Cup: A Youth Pastry Competition." It's a first-of-its kind, citywide, youth pastry competition. With this competition, FPS hopes to foster young Chicagoans' love for baking and cooking, provide professional coaching and mentoring to help hone the skills of young chefs, and raise awareness about career opportunities in this fast-growing industry.

The goal of this competition is to engage youth pastry enthusiasts from every ward in Chicago and to entice them to discover the possibilities of a career in pastry and baking. FPS will roll out three phases of the competition before awarding one youth with the Mayor's Cup.
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- The initial phase will be an open call for youth (ages 14-19) from each of Chicago's 50 wards to submit an essay about their passion for this work.

- Second, the FPS will then take 10 youth (from 10 different wards) and move them to the finalists' stage, while awarding 40 youth (from remaining wards) as their ward's 2017 FPS youth pastry champ
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- The top 10 candidates will advance the finals and receive one on one coaching and mentoring from FPS master chefs before participating in a live baking competition where one student will emerge as the winner of the Mayor's Cup. The winner will be awarded a privately funded FPS scholarship and other prizes and educational opportunities from event partners (valued at more than $26,000). The other nine finalists will also receive various prizes.

Teens can apply on the school's website.