[KHTS] – Leona Cox Community School in Canyon Country is in the running for a $30,000 cafeteria makeover, thanks to first grade teacher Melanie Elder and her 8-year-old daughter Peyton, who is a student at the school.  

Melanie and Peyton Elder entered Ben’s Beginners Cooking Contest created by Uncle Ben’s Rice.

“I wanted to win money for my cafeteria… They could probably make it much better,” Peyton Elder said, when asked why she wanted to enter the contest.

In their video entry “Beef and Broccoli Shout Out,” Melanie and Peyton Elder make broccoli beef over rice together, to demonstrate healthy eating and the importance of cooking as a family, Melanie Elder said.

Voting for the video started on Oct. 9 and continues until Oct. 27. Supporters can vote once every 24 hours from their computer and mobile devices.

Melanie Elder said that she has promoted the video to Leona Cox students and parents, to various roller skating groups that she participates in and through social media.

Because the Grand Prize involves an additional prize for the Elder family and a chance to appear on the Rachel Ray Show, Melanie Elder said that she cannot pass out flyers on school property, but she has distributed them to students after school.

“Kids run up and say, ‘I saw Peyton’s video and my mommy voted,’” she said.

The response from teachers and the school principal has been positive, and they have already started brainstorming how they would want to renovate the cafeteria, Melanie Elder said.

To vote for Peyton and Melanie Elder and to learn more about the Ben’s Beginners Cooking Contest, click here and search “Leona Cox.”