Chopping, sizzles and popping all greet you as you walk into Coppell High School junior and chef Annabella Perk’s kitchen, where another day always means another new recipe.
Perk is the founder and president of the CHS Culinary Club. Perk’s mother is a math teacher at CHS. She has been cooking ever since age 4 and used to cook with her grandmother and great grandmother in Louisiana. Though, things soon changed.
“By the age of 10, my grandmother was battling breast cancer and my great-grandmother was dealing with Alzheimer’s so my mom was taking care of both of them,” Perk said.
Perk chose to take over as the cook for her house.
“I decided to take on the role of the family cook and honor my grandma’s legacy by recreating the dishes and with my mom’s support, who always encouraged my culinary dreams, such cooking became not just a skill but a way to connect with my heritage and preserve those family traditions,” Perk said.
Perk’s time spent in the kitchen has led her to find cooking as a retreat.
“For me, cooking has always been a refuge,” Perk said. “Especially when life gets stressful, whether it’s grieving the loss of family members, dealing with school or the pain of a breakup, the kitchen is where I find my peace.”
Perk also utilizes her cooking skills outside of the kitchen, using her techniques to learn in her IB Chemistry course. Perk is taking IB Chemistry this year and has assimilated her techniques into science courses.
“She’s obviously very interested in cooking and I have learned a lot about when she asks questions about cooking things that I didn’t know that tie into my content,” Chemistry teacher Susan Sheppard said. “It’s actually made chemistry a lot more interesting and relevant to me seeing how it impacts what she’s passionate about.”
As a sophomore, Perk started the CHS Culinary Club as the president, with seniors Jakie Fuerte and Quade Dickert joining on as vice presidents.
Perk also competed in the team Four Fusion, which consisted of Dickert and junior teammates Isheeta Bajjuri and Nathalie Petit. Perk, Bajjuri, Petit and Dickert competed in the State Fair for Food Challenge and won first in county and district.
“She asked me and a couple of her other friends that she felt could really do well in this,” Dickert said “It’s been a lot of fun working with her.”
Perk has won countless awards. In 2024, she won first place in Texas Main Dish, a food show, and second place in Texas Main Dish, a food challenge, which are difficult and rigorous food competitions for chefs across Texas. She is also the Texas MyPlate ambassador and the Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador. These organizations help high school students maintain good nutrition and eating habits.
Through her position as the Culinary Club president, she inspires others to follow their passions and hobbies. Perk volunteers and gives to different organizations.
“Annabella helps inspire others through all her volunteering and her work for the culinary club, especially at the food pantry,” Fuerte said. “When she sees people that need help or people in need, she is the first person to step up.”
Perk’s family plays an important role in who she is and why she cooks, helping her find her passion for cooking.
“She has the memories of her loved ones, who inspire her to do that,” Petit said. “She loves to feed people because it brings them together and it makes people happy.”
Although she is mainly known for her skills, techniques and cooking, Perk has navigated her life with dyslexia, dysgraphia and apraxia of speech. Nonetheless, she focuses on overcoming them.
“I’ve gotten to see her excel in [both school and competition], and some things that make her special are how she is always having a battle of adversity,” Dickert said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t have to go through a lot to achieve success, but she has a lot of obstacles in her way. That’s what makes her special.”
Perk also looks to other female chefs who inspire her, including Lena Richards, who broke barriers in the Jim Crow South by using her culinary skills to challenge racial injustice, and the first woman to host a cooking show in a male-dominated field, or author and TV chef Julia Child.
Through food, Perk works to better understand the world around her.
“You can use the dishes in front of you and the ingredients you have at stores to explore the world’s flavors and understand diverse cultures and experiences from our kitchens, a place in our house,” Perk said. “When we cook, we can nourish our bodies and open doors to a deeper connection with the world around us.”
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