On October 21, 2025, Burke held its 2nd Annual Pre-ACT Chili Cook-Off, an event that helped raise $120 for the senior class this year.

This year’s cook-off featured twelve different chilis. Like last year, there were two titles awarded: Best Chili and People’s Choice. The event not only helps raise money for the seniors but also gives teachers a chance to bond with them during their last year.

“Me and Mrs. King set it up. It was her idea last year,” said Alec Prough. “We tried to do a staff lunch every year for the Pre-ACT because it’s a long day for everybody, and we were looking for something that would be good for a senior senate fundraiser. A few years ago, we brought in pasta, but that costs so much money. So we did something where people bring in the food, and we just serve it. This year was a huge success compared to last year because it was a lot more organized. We were able to get maybe 15 different staff members to bring chili, it was almost too much chili! We had way more people.”

The title for Best Chili is decided by five Burke seniors who taste each contestant’s chili and rank them anonymously. The chili with the lowest total score is awarded the Golden Ladle.

This year’s winner, with a total of five points, was “The Captain’s Chili,” made by Emily King, who earned both the Golden Ladle and the title of Best Chili for the 2025 Burke Chili Cook-Off.

“I had zero to do with it, my husband made it,” King said. “It’s not my favorite chili. When I told him it was a chili cook-off, he decided to enter himself under my name. Now I have to live with him for the rest of my life! I don’t even eat his chili, and the fact that he won, I’ll never live it down. He’ll always remind me that he was the chili winner. But I’ll take a picture with the Golden Ladle.”

The People’s Choice Ladle is given to the chili the staff liked the most. Every participating staff member received a piece of candy corn to vote for their favorite chili, and the cup with the most candy corn won the title of People’s Choice, or Staff’s Choice.

Winning for the second year in a row was Lisa Nichols, taking home the title of People’s Choice again and remaining undefeated so far in Burke’s Annual Chili Cook-Off.

“My chili recipe is my mother’s, and she passed it down from her mother,” Nichols said. “Both my parents and grandparents owned restaurants, so that was the chili that was cooked in my parents’ restaurant. My grandparents owned The Pine Inn, and my parents owned The Cascades.”