A much-deserved award at state competition for YE culinary team

We are thrilled to announce our ProStart culinary team's second-place win at last week's ProStart State Competition in Denver!

Proud does even begin to describe it. This team put in hours of extra work (including weekends) in preparation for the ProStart State Competition - and it all paid off last Thursday when the team completed their timed execution of a multi-course dinner judged on complexity, technique, and of course, taste.

ProStart® is a career and technical education program that unites the foodservice industry and the classroom to teach high school students culinary skills and restaurant management principles, as well as employability skills such as communication, teamwork, professionalism, and time management. By participating in Youthentity’s Hospitality program, high school students have the opportunity to earn ProStart certification and win post-secondary scholarships through ProStart competitions. 

This annual event typically showcases more than 250 ProStart® students from 30 Colorado high schools who demonstrate a mastery of culinary and academic skills as they compete in the Annual ProStart® Student Invitational & Sysco Denver Hospitality Cup Competition; this year 17 schools will attend the state competition. Teams compete for more than $750,000 in scholarships through both a Culinary Competition and Hospitality Management Competition (Youthentity will not have a Management Team at the competition this year). The school that accumulates the most points at the end of the contest will take home the "Sysco Denver Hospitality Cup." The winning teams from the state competition represent Colorado at the National ProStart® Invitational event with the opportunity to win even more scholarships. Youthentity’s culinary team will be judged on the timed execution of a three-course meal, including presentation, the complexity of dishes, and technique. Youthentity’s Culinary team has previously won four first-place awards at the event.

Congratulations to the team: Diana Aguilar, Cynthia Jimenez, Izel Miranda, and Finn Windmueller - all of Glenwood Springs High School. And many thanks to their coaches and mentors: Career Academy Director Greg Beachey, Chef Instructor Joe Daboul, and Chef Matt Maier.

Career Academy is a year-long program on which students explore different industries and career paths while working alongside industry professionals and earning high school and college credits and industry certifications.

Youthentity Executive Director Kirsten McDaniel said, “The ProStart competition is not only a way for our students to showcase their skills learned through the Career Academy program, but they also experience what it means to work as a team in a highly competitive situation. This team has put in extra hours and weekends in practice, and we’re incredibly proud of their efforts.”