Celebrity chef reveals surprises at Frankford High

Celebrity chef Rachael Ray went to Frankford High School today to reveal the extreme kitchen makeover she provided in honor of the school's inspiring culinary arts teacher Wilma Stephenson.

"It's official," Ray said. "It's a whole new environment in here."

But the unveiling of the leaner, shinier, more efficient kitchen wasn't all she had up her sleeve.

Ray had two more surprises.

She announced that each student would get a $5,000 scholarship from her Yum-o! Foundation and she brought in Iron Chef Bobby Flay to put the new equipment to the test.

Flay fired up the new kitchen by whipping up Chicken Chasseur - a chicken dish with tarragon and cognac - as the 10 budding Frankford chefs looked on in their double breasted white jackets. After watching Flay closely, the students cooked their own version.

"I'm going to give you my two cents worth," she said to the students, all graduating seniors.

"Never take food too seriously. Food is about sharing. It's about connecting with each other and providing for each other. And it's also a great way to make a living."

The kitchen, studded with colorful utensils bearing orange handles, the trademark of the Rachael Ray line of cookware, was chock-a-block with new equipment and accessories: an oversize Frigidair oven, drawer microwaves and a washer-dryer in the storage room where the students can launder their chef whites.

Ray provided all the materials and school district staff did the labor. Work started last Wednesday, immediately after the surprise gift was announced, and continued round the clock while students were on spring break.

As she toured the remodeled room with Stephenson, Ray pointed out several highlights.

"I used to teach 30 Minute Meals at a table just like this," Ray said Stephenson as they admired a new kitchen workstation. "Isn't it gorgeous! And look at this new dishwasher. It does a load in 90 seconds. You're going to want one of these at home."

"Wilma, what are you going to cook first?" Ray asked Stephenson.

"I don't know," Stephenson replied, "but I'm going to sleep in here tonight!"

Stephenson, who is notorious for her drill-sergeant standards and maternal generosity, has been teaching at Frankford for 41 years, and for the last decade of that time in culinary arts. She has been absent only one day, when her husband died.

Her success in garnering substantial college scholarships for her students was the focus of a documentary, Pressure Cooker.

Her students, many from low income families in which they carry responsibilities beyond their years, routinely put in extra hours in the school kitchen practicing under Stephenson's tutelage for the annual cooking competition.

And each year they walk away with scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $90,000 to the nation's top culinary colleges.

Her students, many from low income families in which they carry responsibilities beyond their years, routinely put in extra hours in the school kitchen practicing under Stephenson's tutelage (spelling?) for the annual cooking competition.

And each year they walk away with scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $90,000 to the nation's top culinary colleges.

The story may not have an entirely happy ending, however. School District Officials have said 2010-2011 may be the final year of the cooking competition coordinated by the national nonprofit Careers through Culinary Programs (C-Cap).

Stephenson uses the lure of the lucrative C-Cap scholarships to motivate her students.

The district pays C-Cap $15,000 annually to run the contest - a fraction of the scholarship dollars it gets for students and the culinary products it acquires for classroom use in the district. In the 18 years C-Cap has worked with the district, it has brought in $4 million in scholarships.