RAYNE HIGH SCHOOL WINS NATIONAL PROSTART® MANAGEMENT COMPETITION

Hammond High School Places Eighth in Culinary

The Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation (LRAEF) is proud to announce that the Rayne High School ProStart® Management team placed first in the country at the National ProStart® Invitational in Overland Park, Kansas on May 2, 2010. The Hammond High School ProStart® Culinary team placed eighth.

Both Rayne and Hammond won their respective competitions, and the right to represent Louisiana on a national level, at the LRAEF ProStart® Student Competition March 3, 2010 in New Orleans. 

Rayne High School’s winning team consists of teacher Kandice Dequeant and students Victoria Williams, Destiny Kapp, Joli Angelle and Rebecca Palma. Hammond High School’s team included teacher Patti Johnson and students Bethany Armstrong, Rosa Atkins, Olivia Myers, Jazsmine Spears and alternate Danielle Wilkins. 

Competing on a national stage, among 32 teams, Rayne High School’s task was to create a restaurant concept. Their entry was called “Meilé, Eco-Friendly Family Dining,” with delicious health conscious menu choices, local produce, eco-friendly materials and local art.

 Each member of Rayne High School’s management team won $30,000 in scholarships from various culinary institutions in the United States. 

Hammond High School competed in a field of 39 teams. Each team had to demonstrate their knife skills, poultry fabrication and creative abilities through the preparation of a three-course meal in 60 minutes, consisting of: a soup, salad or appetizer; an entrée with a protein, vegetable and starch; and a dessert. Hammond’s menu was Appetizer- Fried Green Tomato, Jumbo Lump Crab and Mache Napoleon Salad; Entrée- Lacquered Quail with Fresh Asparagus and Potato Risotto; Dessert- White Chocolate Filled Beignets with Café au Lait Ice Cream.  

“Words cannot express how proud the LRAEF is of both Rayne and Hammond’s Prostart® teams,” said James Blanchard, LRAEF ProStart® Coordinator. “These young women represented Louisiana wonderfully with their maturity, poise and talent, impressing judges from across the country.”

The mission of the ProStart® program and competition is to increase student awareness of careers in the restaurant/foodservice industry and to provide the restaurant industry with a forum to present and recruit ProStart® students. Participating students complete a nationally-endorsed, dynamic and comprehensive curriculum which encourages them to learn all aspects of operating and managing a restaurant or foodservice establishment, in school and in structured hands-on worksites.

“For months, both teams have worked so diligently to perfect their restaurant presentation and culinary skills,” said Pam St. Pierre, Executive Director of the LRAEF. “We are so thrilled that Louisiana brought the national title in management home and placed in the top 10 in culinary. This speaks volumes about the state’s ProStart® program, the students who participate and the educators who teach the material.” 

The LRAEF would like to sincerely thank the sponsors who assisted in sending both teams to the National competition: Auto-Chlor® Services, the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation and the Acadiana, Greater New Orleans and Northshore Chapters of the LRA.

The LRAEF would like to thank the sponsors of the 2010 Competition.

Diamond ($5,000)

Platinum ($2,500)

Louisiana Culinary Institute

Gold ($1,000)

Brown's & Barbe's Dairy

Jose Garcia II Photography

LRA Northeast Chapter

MPress

Sysco Foodservice

Bronze ($500)

Mr. Mudbug

Serranos Salsa Company

TLC Linen Services

Friends ($250)

ConAgra Foods

Mestizo's Restaurant, Baton Rouge

Notini's Restaurant, Bossier City

If you are interested in sponsorship information, please click here.

ProStart® Program

The foodservice industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. While growth is desirable, it also increases our industry’s labor shortage. In 1999, the LRA started administering the ProStart®program.

ProStart® is a new approach to learning in today’s schools. The program links students, schools and workplaces together in order to have one continuous learning experience. A partnership between local schools and restaurants, students in the 11th and 12th grade complete the nationally endorsed ProStart® curriculum. The dynamic and comprehensive curriculum encourages student to learn all aspects of the operating and managing of a food service establishment. This is accomplished by students taking the ProStart® class in school then proceeding to work (after school) in a structured hands-on worksite. Employers provide more than a paid work experience. They also provide students with workplace knowledge that is directly tied to their school lessons.

The ProStart® curriculum provides textbooks, videos, lesson plans and other tools designed to integrate the school-based and work- based learning. Students will have a chance to follow a direct career path to their future.

The ProStart® program was developed to increase the quality and employability of today’s high school graduates by providing them with training related to important job skills as well as opportunities for careers and higher education.

Components of ProStart®

• School-based learning
  • Skill competencies developed and tested
  • Four semesters of classwork in:
    • strategic business management
    • customer skill training
    • food preparation
    • workforce readiness
    
• Work-based learning
  • Three semesters of internship in a variety of industry settings: Quick serve, Casual, Fine Dining, Corporate, Catering, or Institutional paid with an industry mentor in Louisiana Restaurant Association member operations
  • Credential of mastery awarded from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation at completion of the program
    
• Connecting activities
  • College and university articulation, scholarships
  • Recruiting employers
  • Giving technical assistance to teachers and mentors