A science teacher at Young Women's Leadership Academy in the Fort Worth ISD is getting some national recognition - for what she does in the classroom and the kitchen.
"I knew I was solid in the dessert round. I've been doing desserts since I was five," said Kathleen Cluchey, the newest Chopped Champion on the Food Network.
Cluchey says about a year ago, there was a casting call for teachers who could cook. She fit both qualifications and applied. Several interviews later, she was picked to be one of four teachers in the network's Thankful for Teachers episode. The network wanted to showcase teachers as they shared their love of cooking and their heartfelt stories of educating America's children.
"So, we filmed in February and I had to sit on the news for nine months," Cluchey said. "I'm thrilled that it's out there for the world to see!"
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What the world saw was Cluchey whipping up a three-course meal with a basket of ingredients unknown to her before she started chopping and cooking. She also had a secret ingredient she believes set her apart.
"I think the biggest difference is I am a quick thinker, first of all. And then, I cook every single day for eight people. And so when you're coming home from work and you got kids who are hungry and there's homework and they need to be fed, there is always a clock running. So, the only difference with this is that it was adults and there was a clock and a camera but that's kinda how things go at my house normally," said Cluchey, who lives with her husband, their three children, her mom and two other relatives.
For the first round, she made chili, a dish she often cooks for her family. In the entree round, she poached turkey tenderloin with a salsa verde made with mashed sweet potatoes and a brussels sprout slaw. The dessert round proved to be the easiest for a woman who grew up with a mom who taught her to bake so well that she won ribbons at the State Fair of Texas. She made bourbon apple ice cream with toasted pecan shortbread.
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"I think on the show, it was the entree round that I thought, 'I don't know how this is gonna go.' Once we got to dessert, I thought, 'I got this!" she said.
And, she did. She got the title of Chopped Champion and a check for $10,000.
"Every penny of it is going to student loans," she said. "My husband and I have been working so hard to get out of debt and this is gonna take help take a chunk of these loans for us."
Cluchey is in her 14th year teaching. She's passionate about science and committed to sharing her zeal with the seventh and eighth-grade girls in her YWLA classroom. She can tell it's sinking in. Her students are curious about forensic science and she's hoping the crowdfunding platform Donors Choose will get her what she needs for a project.
"I love science because all it is is being curious about the world around you," she said. "You observe something. You notice something and you think, 'Huh, I want to know more about this thing. I want to learn more about it.' So you can experiment with variables. You can play around."
Which is exactly what Cluchey does in the classroom, the kitchen and in other areas of her life. She often wonders, 'If we changed this one little thing about this situation or I wonder what if I introduced this new concept?" She wants that to be one of the biggest lessons for the young women she teaches. Get curious and take action.
"I think there are so many things we can be afraid of, and everything changes when we start wondering, 'Why not?' Instead of, 'that's not possible,'" she said. "I have never in my life dreamed I would compete on a cooking show and win. That has never, ever been in the cards for me. And, I just kept saying yes to the next thing. And, I took the risks and said, 'Yes.' And, I did the thing that absolutely terrified me and I won."
"Kind of trust ourselves to respond to whatever the moment brings whether it brings recognition and success or you know terrible, awful crashing failure. There's something for us in both scenarios," she said.
