Rachael Ray Episode About Philly Cooking Class Monday

RACHAEL RAY’S EMMY® AWARD-WINNING DAYTIME SHOW GOES BACK TO SCHOOL TO RECOGNIZE DEDICATED TEACHER

NEW YORK, NY – April 28, 2010 – CBS Television Distribution’s RACHAEL RAY, winner of the 2008 and 2009 Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Talk Show, traveled to Philadelphia, PA to reward a dedicated culinary teacher who has helped her students persevere against incredible odds with a much needed makeover for her classroom, “Room 325,” and provide scholarships to the program’s graduating seniors.



Rachael Ray and her team heard about the amazing efforts of Frankford High School’s culinary teacher Wilma Stephenson through the 2008 documentary film “Pressure Cooker.” Mrs. Stephenson has been a lot more than a teacher to her students for the past 41 years; she is also their mother figure, mentor, financial supporter and biggest cheerleader guiding them to success. Forty percent of students at Frankford High School will never make it to their senior year, but all of Mrs. Stephenson’s students not only graduate, but achieve partial or full scholarships to culinary school due to her tough love approach.



RACHAEL RAY sent design buddy Carter Oosterhouse and his team to surprise Wilma and her students for all their hard work by transforming their culinary classroom and kitchen in room 325 with a complete makeover. All new major kitchen appliances, cabinets, furniture, flooring and kitchenware were provided. On April 5, Rachael Ray revealed the new classroom at Frankford High School and celebrity chef Bobby Flay gave the students a surprise cooking demonstration. Ray’s Yum-o! Organization and its partner the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation presented Stephenson’s graduating seniors with $5,000 scholarships to attend a culinary arts program of their choice. Stephenson and her class also traveled to New York on April 28 to tape a segment on RACHAEL RAY.



The special episode of RACHAEL RAY’s “Room 325” is scheduled to air on May 3 on 6abc.

FROM LAURA NACHMAN