19th Annual ProStart Competition Results!
The 19th Annual ProStart Culinary Team Competitions took place Friday, March 1 — Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Fifty-seven ProStart schools competed in four competitions over two days. Results are below:
Overall
1st Place – East Ridge High School
Instructors: Ken Pitts and Christopher Dwyer
2nd Place – Hialeah Gardens High School
Instructor: James Bryant
3rd Place – Leto High School
Instructor: Debra Hladky
4th Place – Lake Minneola High School
Instructors: Nick Sandora, Lance Bowles
5th Place – Tarpon Springs High School
Instructors: Cathleen Ryan, Tony DiVincenzo, Vincenzo Pesce
Johnson & Wales University Culinary Competition
1st Place – Leto High School
Instructor: Debra Hladky
Students: Kerelyn Driver,
Victoria Clawson
Anthony Nunez
Lia Thompson
Sterling Frazier
2nd Place – Hialeah Gardens High School
Instructor: James Bryant
Students: Melanie Trejo
Claudia More
Jennifer Costa
Evelyn Lazo
Jenneily Montes
3th Place – East Ridge High School
Instructors: Ken Pitts, Chris Dwyer
Students: Dakota Ederer
Hunter Hoskins
Alexander Cleary
Ysabel Maseda
Dylan Morales
4th Place –Northeast High School
Instructor: John Beck and Curtis Serata
Student: Mitchell McDermott
Dimitri Singh
Sarah Gruber
Tim Shedina
Caitlyn Guidice
5th Place – John A. Ferguson High School
Instructors: Janett Toledo, Jorge Garcia and Jebel Cordoba
Students: Heidy Chaparro
Giselle Sanchez
Alejandra Garcia
Edwin Colina
Carolina Bejarano
Rosen College at UCF Management Competition
1st Place – East Ridge High School
Instructor: Ken Pitts and Christopher Dwyer
Students: Evangeline Marshall
Faith Marshall
Amanda De Turo
Cole Hilton
2nd Place – Lake Minneola High School
Instructor: Nick Sandora and Lance Bowles
Students: Abbigayle Diamal
Bianca Bundy
Brianna Chicas
3rd Place – Fort Pierce Central High School
Instructors: Jesse Strell, Cindy Swertfager
Students: Sarahi Fraga
McClintock Hoeffner
Hope Thomas
Luz Martinez
4th Place – Strawberry Crest High School
Instructor: Paul Bonanno
Students: Madison Sloan
Rachel Bartlett
Jada Broadnax
Janet Gonzalez
Diamon Brown
5th Place – Eastside High School
Instructor: Pam Bedford and Richard Vaughan
Students: Jada Roberts
Dylan Shea
Keiser University Edible Centerpiece
1st Place – Tarpon Springs High School
Instructors: Cathleen Ryan, Tony DiVencenzo, Vincenzo Pesce
Student: Nicole Alexiou 
2nd Place – Eustis High School
Instructor: Nicole Austin
Student: Alexandra Fales
3rd Place – Leon High School
Instructors: Christine Beam and Karen Stribling
Students: Taylah Tolliver
4th Place – South Lake High School
Instructor: Candy Huxhold and John Thunberg
Student: Sara Guevara
5th Place – East Ridge High School
Instructor: Ken Pitts and Christopher Dwyer
Students: Leah Filmer
Waiters Relay
1st Place – East Ridge High School
Instructor: Ken Pitts and Christopher Dwyer
Students: Maxwell Allman
Tyler Dobereiner
Josh Cerna
2nd Place – Hialeah Gardens High School
Instructor: James Bryant
Students: Danaisy Abascal
Kenneth Florencio
Ailani Ortega 
3rd Place – JP Taravella High School
Instructors: Scott Goodman
Students: Micahel Liu
Ryan McGuire
Yessenina King
4th Place – Dixie Hollins High School
Instructors: Christy Rabich, Tara Bishop
Students: Bobby Denovo
Aaliyah Jackson
Carly Lewis
5th Place – Leon High School
Instructors: Christine Beam and Karen Stribling
Students: A’Nyiah Cobb
Javonta Anderson
Morgan Richardson
NRAEF Scholarships–Application Closes March 15!
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation awards hundreds of scholarships each year. Their application closes March 15, so forward this link to your students now.
CLICK HERE for more information and to apply.
The 23rd Annual ProStart Teacher Training Institute will take place in June 16-21, 2019. The week-long training provides
Florida ProStart instructors with the knowledge necessary to teach the ProStart curriculum. Each day’s learning is built around topics covered in the ProStart curriculum.
FOUR YEARS OF TRAINING
TTI is divided into four years of participation.
FIRST YEAR ATTENDEES focus on the Foodservice Industry, Culinary Techniques and Methodology, Food and Workplace Safety as well as Stocks, Sauces and Soups.
SECOND YEAR ATTENDEES take an in-depth look at Nutrition, Culinary Technique and Methodology, Customer Service, Food Procurement along with Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Fabrication
THIRD YEAR ATTENDEES continue their ProStart Teacher Training experience in Marketing, Cost Control, Desserts, Baked Goods, Global Cuisines and Ingredients with a strong emphasis on the art and craft of teaching in a culinary setting.
FOURTH YEAR ATTENDEES rotate every other year between Nutrition and Baking & Pastry. The 2019 Year Four curriculum will be NUTRITION.
LOCATION
All classes will be held at Johnson & Wales University (JWU) North Miami campus, 1701 NE 127th Street, North Miami, Florida, 33181.
PROGRAM COST
The FRLAEF will cover the cost of all Florida ProStart instructors who will be teaching the ProStart curriculum during the 2019-2020 school year. Attendees will be responsible for their travel and some meals.
REGISTRATION
CLICK HERE to register. Registration deadline is May 3, 2019.
2019 ProStart Teacher of the Year
The ProStart Teacher of the Year is Ashley Kurth from Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County.
Ashley Kurth has been the ProStart instructor at Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County for 11 years. Stoneman Douglas has been a Premier ProStart school since the 2016-2017 school year. Throughout the years she has worked to present innovative ways of learning with the enthusiasm needed to keep students on task and achieving their goals. She has worked to place students in jobs, administered the ProStart exam and assisted students in earning their ProStart COA. After last year’s tragedy, Mrs. Kurth had to be creative in developing strategies to refocus students on their school work while creating a flexible environment for them to learn.
Ashley is shown here, center, Laura Rumer, left, Bruce Ozga, JWU, right.
2019 Hospitality Excellence Awardees
The Hospitality Excellence Award is designed to give recognition to the most outstanding ProStart student from each ProStart program in Florida. Students are selected based on the teacher’s own criteria. The following ProStart students were chosen as the 2019 Hospitality Excellence students by their teachers:
Bartow High School Jaclyn Macknosky
Bayside High School Michele Gibson
Bowers/Whitley Career Ctr Mesha Bludsaw
Columbia High School Carla Nater Aponte
Coral Springs High School Raven Fowler
DeLand High School Alex Clark
Dixie M Hollins High School Caitlin Keovongsa
Dunnellon High School Alex Amador
Durant High School Natalia Collazo
East Ridge High School Evangeline Marshall
Estero High School Luke Bogacz
Eustis High School Alexandra Fales
Fort Pierce Central High School Luz Martinez
Frank H Peterson Academies Desire’ Whitfield
Freedom High School Barbara Lombardi
Hamilton County High Hunter Hatch
Hardee Senior High Logan Albritton
Hialeah Gardens Senior High Danaisy Abascal
Hialeah High School Jaida Robinson
Holmes County High School Jason Evans
Inlet Grove High School Britney Campbell
John A Ferguson Senior Heidy Chaparro
JP Taravella High School Jahzbele Ovalle
Lake Minneola High School Kendall Miller
Leto High School Kerelyn Driver
Marathon High School Rachel Lebo
Martin County High School Elvin Juan
North Miami Senior High Soline Lamarre
Northeast High School Sarah Gruber
Osceola Fundamental High Brooke Potters
Plantation High School Tsaiace Edwards
Port St Lucie High School Blanca Compton
Riveroak Technical College Allan Thomas
Sebring High School Chadd Borecky
Seminole High School Jada St Rose
South Lake High School Sara Guevara
Spruce Creek High School Norma Lagger
St Lucie West Centennial Katrina Dearman
Stoneman Douglas High School John Virtue
Strawberry Crest High School Janet Gonzalez
Tarpon Springs High School Alexandra Taylor
Wekiva High School Clay Reeves
Winter Park High School Elonie Torres
Winter Springs High School Garrison Rice
2019 FRLAEF Scholarships
The FRLAEF awarded $92,000 in scholarships during the Salute to Excellence Awards dinner on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Congratulations to the following students who earned a scholarship:
Jade Bates Tarpon Springs High School
Shannoy Blake Coral Springs High School
Mesha Bludsaw Bowers/Whitley Career Center
Ashton Boatman Tarpon Springs High school
Mark Bower Eastside High School
Josh Bradley Tarpon Springs High School
Ashlyn Cain Booker T Washington High
Tatyana Castillo Martin County Highschool
Heidy Chapparo John A Ferguson Senior High
Keyshawn Cole Stoneman Douglas High School
Aliza Cortes Winter Springs High School
Leah Davis Tarpon Springs High School
Victoria Dowell Coral Springs High School
Joeandy Flores Bowers/Whitley Career Center
Raven Fowler Coral Springs High school
Sarah Gruber Northeast High School
Sara Guevara South Lake High School
Mikayla Heath Golden Gate High School
Wesley Hill Eastside High School
Faith Johnson South Lake High School
Elvin Juan Martin County High School
Caitlin Keovongsa Dixie Hollins High School
Norma Lagger Spruce Creek High School
Trinity Leach Tarpon Springs High School
Evangeline Marshall East Ridge High School
Luz Martinez Fort Pierce Central High School
Nicholas McDaniel Lake Wales High School
Kiana Noe Coral Springs High School
Jahzbele Ovalle JP Taravella High School
Hailey Pacyna Coral Shores High School
Otices Patterson Coral Springs High School
Nataly Perez-Cruz Coral Springs High School
Joshua Prosper Bayside High School
Shelby Reeder South Plantation High School
Garrison Rice Winter Springs High School
Winda Saintil Atlantic Tech High School
Chloe Schopmeyer Tarpon Springs High School
Arianna Skiadas Tarpon Springs High School
Alexandria Taylor Tarpon Springs High School
Yolanda Walker Bowers/Whitley Career Center
Allison Walker Lake Wales High School
Floor Plans and Pictures Needed
A few Florida ProStart schools are in the process of remodeling their facilities. If you have recently remodeled, please let us know if you are willing to share your floor plans and/or pictures of your school kitchen.
NPR Student Podcast Challenge
Do you know of any ProStart students interested in podcasting? NPR wants to hear from them with the Student Podcast Challenge! Students from around the country are invited to create a podcast with their classes, to be submitted by an educator. Submissions are due March 31, with winners announced in April. Winning submissions will be featured in segments on Morning Edition or All Things Considered. In the meantime, know any students who currently host a podcast about their experiences in ProStart? The National Restaurant Association wants to hear about them! Send that information to [email protected].
CLICK HERE for more information.
CLICK HERE for the contest rules.
Project Taste Test
The National Restaurant Association Foundation, in partnership with PepsiCo Foodservice, is proud to share the seventh Project Taste Test “Servin’ Up Successful Careers” video. Project Taste Test is produced exclusively for ProStart classrooms to give students advice from the best in the business and to showcase the limitless opportunities in restaurants, foodservice, and hospitality. This year’s Project Taste Test video features an exclusive interview with Stephen Joyce, CEO of Dine Brands Global; Darren Rebelez, President of IHOP; and John Cywinski, President of Applebee’s. They are interviewed by Sidney Reed, a ProStart alum from California who is now attending Cal Poly Ponoma to pursue a career in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Show this video to your students and they can complete the interactive classroom worksheet. The worksheet includes a short project where students can use social media to build out their own marketing campaign. Click here to watch PepsiCo’s Project Taste Test video. Educators can access the interactive classroom activity by logging in to educator hub.
Information about CAPE, SafeStaff and More
- SafeStaff is a performance measure for Perkins funds. Please turn in your SafeStaff results to the same person you turn in your ServSafe results.
- www.floridashines.org is the host sight for MyCareerShines. This website exist to help students earn a college degree and find a bright career. They work closely with Florida’s 40 colleges and universities. Students can check their transcripts, explore libraries and track their success. There are student log in options as well as parent log in options.
- Don’t forget www.goprostart.com. They have practice exams for ProStart and ServSafe. The exams are broken down into three optioins: 15 questions (Sampler), 80 questions (Entrée) or 45 questions (Dessert).
ProStart Scantron Update
The 1st edition of Foundations of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts distributed by Pearson is going out of print. Pearson is no longer selling the printed answer sheets and online exam vouchers. However, the National Restaurant Association will continue processing the answer sheets. You may reach them by email at [email protected] or call 800-848-9500 prior to that date. However, as of January 1, 2019, you may purchase these 1st edition exam items directly from the National Restaurant Association. Please contact your Foundations rep or email [email protected] for 2019 orders or to learn more about the new 2nd Edition of FRMCA.
Culinary 1-3 Progression
Pinellas County Schools shared their Culinary 1 – 3 progression chart. This chart was created to visually show the progression of learning throughout the frameworks. This chart is a work in progress and is reviewed yearly. CLICK HERE to view it.
ProStart ExamView Help
NRA Solutions team worked with Turning Technologies to host a ExamView webinar recording via the developer’s ftp site. The recording is not as intuitive or elegant as we would like it to be, but I believe it can still help teachers learn the ropes.
ExamView Webinar Recording
username: NRA
password: Food21617
**Recording is in the root of the folder**
The recorded webinar covers:
- Installation/downloading
- Managing multiple editions/test banks
- Creating a course in Manager and giving the test over Player on the LAN
- Entering Grades into Manager
- Creating Exams
- Pulling student data from test manager- for individuals/class to see trends
- Add/modify questions
Creating a Test
https://d2p83s3q5aa83e.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Creating-a-Test.pdf
NRA Solutions can also do 1:1 support for any of your teachers interested in the 2nd edition or currently using ExamView, just let us know and we will connect you to them.
Three Culinary Positions Open
Marion County Forest High School in Marion County is in need of a culinary teacher. For more information CLICK HERE and then look for the Careers tab at the top right corner to apply.
Citrus County Citrus High School in Citrus County is in need of a culinary teacher. CLICK HERE then scroll down to “Teacher Culinary Arts” for more information and to apply.
Lecanto High School in Citrus County is in need of a culinary teacher. CLICK HERE for the application.
Hospitality Industry Internships
The Hospitality Industry Internship (HII) provides the opportunity for Florida ProStart & HTMP 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 from the FRLAEF.
To qualify for an HII, the instructor must teach the ProStart/HTMP curriculum during the 2018-2019 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 also 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.
CLICK HERE to apply.
ACF Scholarship Opportunities
ACF Scholarship Applications for CIA
- Culinary Institute of America (Deadline: May 1)
Complimentary Foodsafety Materials
Each Premier and Full ProStart program is eligible for free ServSafe or SafeStaff materials. To ensure you get the materials you need, you must notify us of your needs. Once we receive your ProStart Classification paperwork, you can order up to $350 of ServSafe/SafeStaff materials. Click here for the price list. Email Amy Parker to place your order–you do not need to fill out the form. Requests are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
NRAEF has finally made the 7th edition Instructor tools available! The Instructor USB is $200 if you are interested. It is listed on the price sheet.
Complimentary ProStart Scantrons
The FRLAEF will distribute over $25,000 worth of free ProStart Exam Scantrons to Premier and Full ProStart schools during the 2018-2019 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.