Navajo Times
Tuesday, July 14, 2026

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Chinle chefs nab honors at statewide competition

Chinle chefs nab honors at statewide competition

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Left to right, William Jake, Alex Yellowman, Haleigh Benally and Lakota Thompson recently brought home honors in the statewide Careers Through Culinary Arts Program competition. They are
students of culinary arts instructor Rex Sherry at Chinle School.


CHINLE

Four young chefs from Chinle High School’s culinary arts program earned honors at this year’s Careers through Culinary Arts Program in the recent statewide Native Skills competition.

Alex Yellowman, a senior from Chinle, won a scholarship to culinary school and a job in Scottsdale, Arizona.

William Jake took first place and Lakota Thompson second place in the cooking competition, which involved making hunter’s chicken, which Jake described as “baked chicken with sauce and sides of zucchini, yellow squash and tourné potatoes.

Jake is a senior from Chinle and Thompson is a junior from Salina Springs, Arizona.

Haleigh Benally of Chinle ranked in the top 10 juniors after making an omelette and cucumber salad.

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About The Author

Cindy Yurth

Cindy Yurth was the Tséyi' Bureau reporter, covering the Central Agency of the Navajo Nation, until her retirement on May 31, 2021. Her other beats included agriculture and Arizona state politics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in technical journalism from Colorado State University with a cognate in geology. She has been in the news business since 1980 and with the Navajo Times since 2005, and is the author of “Exploring the Navajo Nation Chapter by Chapter.”

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