TRIUNFADORA: Ingrid Hoffman

— -- Ingrid Hoffmann stands in a spacious kitchen in New York City with two big ovens behind her and a plate of chopped carrots and onions by her side. But the TV cooking star is not facing a camera. She is looking into the transfixed gazes of some 20 low-income high school students. And she is not talking about how to prepare a recipe but how they can prepare themselves for a lifetime of success and happiness. "The secret in life is finding what you love," the 42-year-old Hoffmann tells them excitedly. "If you find your passion and work hard at it you can live your dream. I am."

Hoffmann's dream life is a busy one. The woman who has been called the Latin Martha Stewart stars on two cooking and lifestyle shows, Delicioso, on Galavision/Univision, and Simply Delicioso, on the Food Network, and she recently published her first cookbook, Simply Delicioso: A Collection of Everyday Recipes with a Latin Twist.

You wouldn't expect to find a busy celebrity volunteering her time to motivate a group of struggling inner-city public school kids. But she spends most of her day talking to the students and even skips lunch in order to spend two hours helping a top student prepare a short cooking video which he will use to try to get a scholarship at a culinary college. "You have everything it takes to get this scholarship," she tell him right before he begins taping. "Believe in yourself."

Even though Hoffmann lives in Miami, she visits the Food and Finance High School on Manhattan's West side several times a year and regularly checks on students' progress by e-mail with school officials. Nearly half of the school's 405 students are Hispanic. "Ingrid is phenomenal," says Jessica Mates, the school's community liaison. "Role models are a powerful motivator for these kids."

Other students greet her with warm embraces. One girl screams with delight when Hoffmann agrees to write her a letter of recommendation to college.

"For her to come all the way here with her busy life and help me out makes me feel proud," says Richard Owens, the 18-year-old student she is helping with the video.