Hours after class lets out for the day on Wednesday, the stoves and ovens inside Dowagiac Middle School’s cafeteria will be ablaze with activity.

Unlike most meals prepared inside the kitchen, though, the dishes will be prepared for staff and parents — and will be made by students.

A group of 12 fifth-grade students from Patrick Hamilton, Kincheloe, and Justus Gage elementary schools will be chopping, mixing, sautéing and baking their way to victory in the first-ever Dowagiac Future Chef Competition, held in the middle school cafeteria that afternoon from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The contestants will be tasked with creating a healthy afterschool snack based on their own recipes, with the top prizes awarded to the first, second and third best dishes, said Deb Cahill, the director of food services.

“The kids will be creating a presentation plate for their dish, along with samples for the judges, parents and people just coming to visit,” Cahill said.

This is the first year that the students from the local district will participate in the Future Chef Competition, which Soldexo holds annually across 222 school districts it provides food services to throughout the country. The winner of Wednesday’s contest will be considered for the regional finalist award later this year, with the top placers vying to become one of five national finalists, Cahill said.

The food services department sent out information about the local contest back in February, asking fifth-grade students to submit recipes for healthy snacks. The department received 24 submissions, which Cahill and District Nurse Suzanne Dorman whittled down to 12 for the cook-off. The recipes on display on Wednesday will include ones for smoothies, hummus, salads and fruit kebabs, Cahill said.

“We’ll have quite a myriad of dishes,” Cahill said. “It’s a nice selection of different things.”

The panel of judges will have a set number of criteria to use in selecting the winning dishes, which includes how health conscious it is, how easy for kids it is to make and how fun the dish is. There will be an award for the contestant who makes the dish with the best presentation as well. The junior chefs will receive their own hats and coats to use in the middle school kitchen.

The contestants were thrilled when they were given the news they had advanced to the competition, with many of them screaming or doing a happy dance, Cahill said.

“For them to be so excited about their food, it’s enormous,” she said.

Wednesday’s competition is open to parents and other members of the public interested in attending. Judging is expected to begin around 5:30, with the audience invited to taste the dishes shortly thereafter.