We are all anxiously awaiting the release of the competitive events guide, but we wanted to let you know of a change for Missouri this year in regards to eligibility for Culinary Arts or Baking and Pastry competitive events.

As you likely know it was approved nationally over the summer to remove the words "occupational" and "comprehensive" in regards to membership. We have traditionally only allowed "occupational" members to compete in Culinary Arts or the pilot Baking and Pastry events. Since the affiliation system will no longer identify chapters in this manner we have to have an alternative way to verify which schools are eligible for these competitions.

Each year chapters who wish to compete in these events will need to complete the online eligibility application. This is a short (5 minutes or less) application requesting basic information and the courses being taught and instructor that would qualify the chapter.

The courses that allow a chapter to be eligible have NOT changed. A member interested in competing will need to be affiliated with a chapter that meets the eligibility requirements.

Baking and Pastry will remain a pilot program again this year. We will be reaching out individually to teams that qualified last year and provide them the first opportunity to participate again this year.