ROCKWALL, TX (May 7, 2014) Rockwall High School’s culinary program was represented well this weekend (May 3-5th) competing in the National ProStart Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the title of National Champions in the Restaurant Management Competition.
In the management competition, teams developed an original restaurant concept and business proposal to present to industry judges and applied critical thinking skills to address challenges restaurant managers, owners, and executives face in day-to-day operations. They also had to prepare a 10 minute verbal presentation, open to not only judges, but to the public and “sell” their concept ideas. Rockwall High School’s concept was The Grate American Grilled Cheese Factory, a quick-casual restaurant serving fresh, gourmet-quality grilled cheese sandwiches with the slogan Two GRATE Loves: Our Food & You!
The Restaurant Management team has had a long, successful journey this year that includes, first place at the regional competition (held in Houston), first place in the state competition (held in Waco, Tx), and now they have one more thing to be proud of – they are now NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
The National ProStart Invitational had 46 states, territories, and Department of Defense bases competing for a total of $3.75 million in scholarships. This year’s judges included industry experts such as Chef Walter Scheib, former White House executive chef from 1994 – 2005, who cooked for both President Clinton and President Bush; Chef Stephen Kalil, PepsiCo corporate research chef; and Chef Maxcel Hardy, former ProStart student, executive chef and founder of One Chef Can 86 Hunger.
Our competing students, Katheryn Besadesky, Mason Estrada, Victoria Van Vleck, all of Rockwall High School, and Adrian Dahl of Rockwall-Heath High School have earned more than $170,000 in scholarships this year through their many ProStart competitions.
At the National competition alone, they received $5,000 from the National Restaurant Association and Coca-Cola and $1000.00 more from the McLamore Foundation created by Burger King Corporation. Each of our students also received a $16,000 scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America, $7,500 to the Louisiana Culinary Institute, $10,000 to Sullivan University National Center for Hospitality Studies, $45,000 to the New England Culinary Institute, $10,000 Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, $10,000 to The International Culinary Schools at the Arts Institutes, and finally, they each received a full tuition scholarship to the famed Le Cordon Bleu’s school of culinary arts at any location of their choosing in North America. The National Restaurant Association is also flying the team to Chicago (May 15- May 17) for the annual National Restaurant Association Show. They have been asked to present their concept to the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
“This national title and our back-to-back state champion titles are a true representation of dedication and hard-work by my students. They realize what a great opportunity they have to win scholarships through this wonderful program and are constantly motivated by that,” said Cody Hayes, Culinary Arts Chef Instructor. “My students will now be able to attend college because of this! Representing the great state of Texas at the National ProStart Invitational was a true honor, and we are all blessed to be a part of such a fantastic program supported by the Texas Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association. Winning a national championship through ProStart is life-changing for students, and I could not be more proud and happy for them all!”
To share your good news and events, email editor@BlueRibbonNews.com.
Please click here to LIKE our Facebook page, so we can reach more people with good news like this!
Rockwall’s Culinary Arts Management Team named National Champions added by Editor on
View all posts by Editor →