ProStart Teacher Training Institute–Register Now!
The 2021 ProStart Teacher Training Institute (TTI) will be held at Keiser University’s Sarasota Campus! Due to the limited response from the January survey, we will host only one three-day event. The event will be held June 22-25 with attendees arriving the afternoon of June 22. The event will conclude with lunch on June 25. The FRLAEF has arranged for and will cover the cost of single occupancy overnight accommodations at a hotel within one mile of Keiser University as well as the cost of the training and most meals. Attendees will be responsible for travel to/from the event as well as daily transportation to the campus.
Based on the feedback received from the March registration forms, the topics have been finalized. Every attendee will rotate through each topic. The topics to be covered are Asian Street Foods, Fast Labs (50 minutes), Noodles, Farm to Table and Breads.
Due to current Covid rules, we are currently able to accommodate approximately 30 attendees. However, as the CDC guidelines are adjusted we may be able to accommodate more attendees. As space is limited this year, preference will be given to those who are first-time attendees, then to those who have only attended one year, and so on until the event is full. If you have attended TTI three, four, or 14 years we still encourage you to register. Because of the uncertainty of the times, you just may get a spot!
CLICK HERE to register to attend. Registration closes May 7, 2021.
FREE Foodsafety Training Materials
Due to the cancellation of the ProStart Culinary Team Competitions, the FRLAEF has funds available to use towards foodsafety materials. Each ProStart program may spend up to $750 in foodsafety materials. Listed below are some popular orders that all total $750.
20 Online Codes (for computer test)
19 Exam Scantrons (for paper/pencil test)
14 ServSafe Manager books
10 ServSafe Manager books with online codes
10 ServSafe Manager books with exam scantrons
90 SafeStaff Foodhandler Guides
Click here for a complete listing of what is available. Email Amy Parker with your request–you do not need to fill out the form. Requests are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
FRLAEF Scholarship Applications–Current & Former Students!
CURRENT STUDENTS
The FRLAEF will award approximately $40,000 in scholarships during the 2020-2021 school year! These scholarships will be awarded in May. The scholarship application link is below. Please share with all your graduating seniors who are going to post secondary school to study anything in the field of Culinary, Foodservice or Hospitality.
Application deadline: April 30, 2021
FORMER STUDENTS
The FRLAEF will award two to three $1,000 scholarships to students who are currently enrolled in a post-secondary culinary, foodservice or hospitality program. Please get the word out to your former students!
Application deadline for postsecondary students is May 21, 2021
Eastside High School Prepares Meals for Families in Need
ProStart students at Eastside High School in Gainesville prepare meal kits to give to families in need. Over 250 meals are distributed to families in Alachua County each week in boxes consisting of three different recipes. Families are then able to cook the healthy meals themselves from home.
Eastside’s ProStart teacher, Pamela Bedford, said she’s received great feedback from the families receiving the meals.
“They loved that it was simple, easy to prepare dishes they could feed their whole family with. The goal was to make something an elementary student and a grandmother could enjoy so my students have done well incorporating recipes that can feed the masses,” said Bedford.
This is part of a study by the University of Florida aiming to increase nutritional habits in economically disadvantaged areas. This program not only helps families in need but gives students hands-on experience in the kitchen as well.
Eastside High School was the pilot school for the program, which is now expanding due to its success. A school in Putnam County is now participating and a school in Orlando is expected to join in this fall. Bedford says she hopes this could one-day become a state-wide program.
UCF Rosen College News
The Rosen College of Hospitality Management has exciting news to share in 2021. Beginning this year, Rosen College has joined the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s “Prostart Passport” program. Upon admission to the Rosen College, Prostart Certificate of Achievement holders will earn 250 hours towards the 1000 hours of required internship experience in our P.R.E.P. program (Professional Rosen Experiential Portfolio.) Any Prostart student that earns the COA will be eligible for the 250 internship hours upon Rosen college admission. Interested students should contact academic advising for review of the Prostart Certificate at hospitality@ucf.edu . The Rosen College is also proud to announce our brand-new Progressive Internship Program with Long Horn Steak House and Sonny’s Barbecue. Selected Rosen College students that meet certain criteria will be paired with management internship positions at either Long Horn or Sonny’s during their college studies, and upon graduation will be placed in a managerial position to operate one of these industry leading restaurant locations.” Please contact jonathan.judy@ucf.edu for more information.
Virginia ProStart Industry Interviews and Virtual Tour Series
The Virginia ProStart program has begun an interview series with various members of the industry for teachers to use while many of the teachers are still virtual. We have also created virtual tours of an incubator kitchen, food truck and the brand new facilities for a community college’s culinary program:
Henry Fletcher Interview – 1115 Mobile Kitchen
Shannon Conway Interview – Hatch Kitchen RVA
Chef Jesse Miller Interview – The Kitchens at Reynolds
Bernadette Young Interview – Capital Ale House
Tamera Harris Interview – Richmond Region Tourism
Paul Cooper Interview – Retro Hospitality
Virtual Tours
1115 Mobile Kitchen Tour
Hatch Kitchen RVA Tour
They have also created questionnaires for many of the interviews for teachers to use with their students. Please let the FRLAEF know if you would like links to these as well. They will continue to add interviews and virtual tours to our Virginia ProStart YouTube Channel.
Coast Guard Bonus for Culinary Careers
Click on picture to enlarge.
New CIA Digital Content for Your Class
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) has two new, on-demand series: “Cooking Methods” and “Baking Methods”. In these six videos, Chef Robert Tremblay and Chef Payton Spear cover the fundamental cooking and baking methods.
Whether for use in the classroom or simply for a homework assignment, these series are perfect for the aspiring young chef or food professional in your school.
CAPE List
As you know, the ProStart Certificate of Achievement will be removed from DOE’s CAPE funding list at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. (It is still on the list for the current school year.) ServSafe remains on DOE’s CAPE funding list. Historically, ProStart instructors favor the ServSafe exam over the ProStart COA which is evidence by the fact that 63 COA’s were awarded during the 2019-2020 school year while 4278 ServSafe exams were administered.
In addition to ServSafe, ACF’s Certified Fundamentals Cook is also on the CAPE list for the 2021-2022 school year. To earn the Certified Fundamentals Cook students must pass a written and practical exam. The exams can be proctored at your schools but require a culinary industry professional, who is not the class instructor.
ACF does not require a specific curriculum be used to prepare for the exams. The instructor simply must show the material is being taught as part of the coursework. The ProStart program does meet the requirement. In the future, NRA may release a crosswalk between the ACF standards and the ProStart curriculum. In the meantime, the link below provides a blueprint for the certification.
https://www.nocti.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/JRCulArts4536.pdf
The FRLA does intend to submit the ServSuccess program for the CAPE list for the 2022-2023 school year. For the 2021-2022 school year, programs will have to rely on ServSafe and the CFC.
Earning COA Hours During a Pandemic
The National Restaurant Association has approved the following alternatives to industry hours through the end of the 2020-2021 school year:
- Students can set up their own YouTube channel. They can feature basic skills, like knife cuts and mother sauces, up to complex multistage dishes. If the students combine the work of planning, costing, practicing, filming and creating, editing and evaluating, this could be a pretty big project for each video.
- Provide meals as part of a service project. Hours verification provided by teacher if teacher-led, or by parent to teacher
- Run their home kitchen as if it were a café, creating menus and pricing for items cooked for families. Students who work for student-based enterprises at their schools will find this familiar. Hours verification provided to teacher by parent
- Create meals for their families (taking the menus and pricing from the option above out of the equation); there must be a bare minimum of work done – students cannot earn hours for making toast and bowls of cereal, for example. Hours verification provided to teacher by parent
- Participate in non-ProStart but still industry-specific learning modules i.e. ServSuccess/CRP modules. Educators must create a worksheet that students must complete to earn any hours associated with these modules to ensure active learning. Hours verification provided by teacher.
- Essay/Capstone project. Create an essay regarding leadership in the industry, with the incorporation of COVID-19. Students would be expected to describe what they would do if they had a restaurant and were faced with the decisions that our real life restauranteurs are facing. This would be a good case study and involve research as they could see which restaurants in their areas are still open, which ones are not, which ones closed permanently, limited menus, limited hours, delivery, grocerant, etc. and find if there are trends or similarities. Hours verification provided by teacher if teacher-led, or by parent to teacher
Recently Remodeled Your ProStart Kitchen?
If you have recently remodeled your ProStart kitchen we would love to hear from you! Instructors are constantly looking for remodeling advice and we would love to share what you have learned along the way. Email Laura Rumer at Laura@FRLA.org if you can help.
Hospitality Industry Internships
The Hospitality Industry Internship (HII) provides the opportunity for Florida ProStart 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 ProStart curriculum during the 2020-2021 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 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.
Online Resources Page–Updated with CIA Demos
The FRLAEF online resource page is being updated continuously with new information.
CLICK HERE to go to the page where you will find information about ProStart e-books, chapter animations and videos, foodsafety resources and more. In case you missed it, we have also made available all the notes from our Best Practice zoom meetings on this page.
First Edition Foundations Phasing Out June 2022
The first edition of Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary Arts will phase out in June 2022. After June 2022 NRAEF will not longer grade ProStart exams relating to the first edition of the textbooks. In order to remain a ProStart school and to test your students with the ProStart exams, you must have transitioned to at least the 2nd edition no later then June of 2022.
Complimentary ProStart Scantrons
The FRLAEF will distribute over $25,000 worth of free ProStart Exam Scantrons to Premier and Full ProStart schools during the 2020-2021 school year. Once a school has turned in their ProStart Classification paperwork, email Amy Parker to let her know how many ProStart Exam Scantrons you need. Requests are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
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