Normally a sense of unification is among the hallways, however this week  competition has struck a divide through the minds and stomachs of staff as the epic annual Chili Cook Off takes place Friday with things getting spicy and reaching galaxies far, far away.

Social studies teacher Jeff Crowe created a Star Wars inspired video to parallel his department’s theme of “The Chili Strikes Back”.

“It was to intimidate the other lesser departments,” Crowe said. “To let them know we’re bringing our A game. There is a little bit of competition.”

A little competition indeed as every department thinks they have the winning recipe.

“There is no competition,” CTE teacher Courtney Benson said. “We got this one.”

The definition of chili varies according to who makes it.

“There is a bean and no bean debate, but this is no bean because I’m not a fan of beans,” SPED teacher David Mraz said. “It’s beef, it has tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, green peppers. My father used to be really into these things so he won with this recipe in the 70s, so I kept it the same.”

Social studies teacher Tara Gaffaney would rather not give away what she has cooked up for the competition.

“It’s a secret recipe,” Gaffaney said.

Used to competition, basketball coach Marcus Eckert is ready for the cook off.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” Eckert said. “I’m a judge and so I get to taste everybody’s chili. It’s gonna be phenomenal on Friday, and it’s gonna be horrible on Friday night.”

Social studies teacher Jay Sommers feels the same way about the possible outcome.

“I’m not a fan of chili cook-offs,” Sommers said. “Because often times you would want to eat multiple varieties of chili, and it messes up your gastrointestinal tracts.”