HTM April NewsBites 2026

2026 FRLAEF Scholarship Application — Closes April 10!

The FRLAEF will award at least $65,000 in scholarships during this Spring. Each scholarship awarded will be in the amount of $2,000 and will be a one-time, non-renewable scholarship.

To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:

• Be enrolled in an HTM program in a Florida secondary school
• Be a graduating senior who will begin post-secondary education in 2026
• Be entering a culinary or hospitality post-secondary program
• Return a copy of their OFFICIAL high school transcript to FRLAEF by application deadline

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

HTM Teacher of the Year

The 2026 HTM Teacher of the Year is Kate Restifo at Horizon High School. Kate began teaching at the Le Cordon Bleu before moving over to the high school arena and has been teaching for 20 years.  She has an undergrad from Tulane University and a graduate degree from Marymount University not to mention her culinary degree from Orlando Culinary Academy.

Valerie Woodring, Osceola High School HTM teacher said, “Kate answers every call for help. She shares her culinary knowledge and background with me and my students when needed. She has built the program at this new school and takes time to offer her students a wide range of opportunities through competition, DECA, and trips.”

Kate said, “I have no idea how many students I have had that work in the industry but it feels like every time I go somewhere I run into students working!  Literally twice last week!” And a fun fact is that she is a second level certified Sommelier.

Congratulations to Kate!

HTM Teacher Training Registration 

The 5th annual HTM Summer Training will take place July 13-15, 2026, at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort in Orlando.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Articulation Agreement

If you have an articulation agreement between your program and a post-secondary school, please let us know!

FRLAEF Post-Secondary Scholarship

Please share this with your graduating seniors!

In order to be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:

• Be enrolled at a post-secondary school pursuing a culinary or hospitality program–Summer/Fall 2026 term
• Return your transcript by application deadline

The scholarship amount is based on investment returns and award amounts fluctuate from year to year. Approximately six $2,000 scholarships will be awarded. This is a one-time, non-renewable award. However, students may reapply each year.

Application deadline: May 15, 2026
Applicants notified award status by: May 22, 2026

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

2026 HTM Hospitality Excellence Awardees

The Hospitality Excellence Award is designed to give teachers the chance to recognize their top student each year based on their own criteria. The following students were recognized this year with a certificate during the HTM Competition Awards Luncheon in February.

Smart Study for ServSafe

Help your students with ServSafe Manager exam preparation via adaptive learning techniques. ServSafe Smart Study Modules personalize learning based on each student’s unique needs and guides them to master the most critical course objectives. The program assesses individual knowledge, identifies and corrects misinformation, and redirects students to topic areas where they show struggle. The results are efficient learning, long-term retention, better prepared instructors and overall improved performance on exams.

Features include:
• Just in time multi-media “learning bursts” to address knowledge gaps
• Learning experience rooted in cognitive science for quick mastery and
long-term retention
• Confidence-based learning to improve performance and productivity

CLICK HERE to preview ServSafe Smart Study

For more information or to order, contact Lauren Robin at [email protected]

9th Edition ServSafe Manager Released

The new 9^th edition ServSafe book is out, and they increased the price by $2.00. The supplemental links are below so students can still use the 7^th edition. The new Coursebook will be released in April.

There won’t be any additional price increases for instructional materials.  However, Manager book-related products will see a modest increase of about 4% to help cover rising development and production costs—such as paper, printing, and distribution.

The 9th Edition ServSafe Manager Instructor and Student resources are now available and can be accessed using the links below. Use these to see any updates for the 9th edition Manager book. Keep in mind, you do not need to purchase the new edition to teach ServSafe, you can use the information at the links below to teach anything new.

• ServSafe Manager 9th Edition – Instructor Updates
• ServSafe Manager 9th Edition – Student Updates

If you are interested in purchasing the 9th edition Manager book, contact Amy Parker at [email protected] for the price list or a quote.

HTM FaceBook Group

Join the Florida HTM FB page to share resources, ask questions, etc. CLICK HERE and then request to be added.

Hospitality Industry Internships

The Hospitality Industry Internship (HII) provides the opportunity for Florida HTM instructors to work in a foodservice/lodging establishment for at least 40 hours. Once the required paperwork has been processed, the participant will receive a personal check for $600.

To qualify for an HII, the instructor must teach the HTM curriculum during the 2025-2026 school year. If you are already employed at a restaurant or hotel, you MAY NOT use that site for your internship. The restaurant/hotel must be a new work experience for you, not somewhere you have worked before or used as an HII internship location.

The applicant must secure a position at a foodservice or lodging facility where a minimum of 40 hours of hands-on experience is guaranteed. The host location may pay the recipient but is not required to do so.

The FRLAEF will award 11 HII’s this school year on a first-come, first-served basis. So apply NOW! Work experience may begin once the applicant receives an award notification from the FRLAEF.

APPLY NOW!