Success stories: Meet students, educators and mentors

Commitment to ProStart: John has spearheaded his school's management team to two consecutive state ProStart Student Invitational championships. He is described as a student who "has an incredible amount of energy and a constant supply of ideas". One of these ideas was coordinating a dinner to help raise money for the ProStart program, which was a huge success!

Work Experience: John has been working for Marie Callendars and already has been able to work his way around the restaurant, experiencing all areas of the operation. John realizes the value of applying classroom learning to on-the-job training and plans to continue working for Marie Callendars throughout his college career.

Future Plans: John plans to attend a local community college for two years and then move on to Cal Poly in Pomona, CA as a restaurant management student.

Commitment to ProStart: Fany has become somewhat of a local celebrity within her school and town. She is a true voice for the ProStart program, doing radio interviews and talking with other peers about the benefits of the program. She has excelled in the classroom and is a role model for other peers.

Future Plans: Fany plans to continue her education in culinary arts and dreams of opening her own pastry shop some day.

Commitment to ProStart: Nicole has taken every culinary arts class that has been available at her school, which greatly prepared her for winning the 2006 National ProStart Student Invitational. Other accolades include being a member of the first place Kohler Gingerbread festival team for the past three years and overall festival winner for two years. Nicole has generously given any prize money won over the years to her school's Culinary Arts Department to use for team competition expenses.

Work Experience: Nicole has come into the school to work as many as 40 Saturday's and Sundays as well as many other evenings to help with catering or special school events. Outside of school she has worked just about every station at Culver's including pantry and garde manger, cooking and baking and waiting tables. Nicole has also been recruited to make sheet cakes serving 150 people for a variety of events.

Future Plans: Nicole is on track to earn her National ProStart Certificate of Achievement and has been accepted into Kendall College's Baking and Pastry program where she plans to master the skills to become a top pastry chef.

Commitment to ProStart: Felipe is working hard towards earning his National ProStart Certificate of Achievement all while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 4.0. He is active in all class activities and is a mentor to other students. Outside of his culinary interests he is star of his football and wrestling teams as well as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Future Plans: Felipe plans on attending a 4-year culinary school.

Commitment to ProStart: The ProStart program has introduced Jasmine to many opportunities within the foodservice industry. Most of all , she has learned that dedication, teamwork, culinary knowledge and self-confidence are all crucial to becoming a success. Jasmine is a member of the 2005 New York State ProStart Management team.

Work Experience: Jasmine has worked with various organizations gaining her internship experience within the program. Through these internships, she has had many opportunities to contribute to an array of community projects. Jasmine has currently been working for the past six months at Gambles, a bakery in Queensboro, New York.

Future Plans: Jasmine hopes to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University or the Culinary Institute of America. She also plans to take management classes in order to prepare herself for an ownership/management role within the restaurant industry.

Commitment to ProStart: Jasmine's teacher describes her as a person that has the "passion, dexterity and fortitude needed to work the long, hard hours required by the industry." She has a real creative knack with breads, pastries and cakes as well as a success with knife skills, measurement, table settings, service, choosing recipes, making menus and using a variety of cooking techniques. ProStart has motivated Jasmine to push herself to succeed in something…and that's just what she does, COOK!

Work Experience: Jasmine began working in the industry at Roundtable Pizza and then worked back of the house at MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Currently she is an assistant in the pastry department of the Mirage Hotel & Casino.

Future Plans: Jasmine would like to be a pastry chef after high school graduation.

Commitment to ProStart: Rachel began the ProStart program as a young lady who was unsure of herself and had little direction in her life. She now has a passion for the culinary industry and is a motivated and determined student who sees herself beyond the confines of a small rural community. She allows herself to be shaped and molded by her positive experiences in the ProStart program. She has discovered the fact that a career as a chef is possible and that such a career is possible for her.

Work Experience: Rachel has gained valuable work experience by working in Yoncalla High School's school based enterprise, 5th Street Catering.

Future Plans: Rachel hopes to obtain scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education at Johnson & Wales University. She aspires to be a chef.

Commitment to ProStart: Michelle is a star in both her culinary classes and general education classes. She's ranked 14th in her graduating class and has been in honors classes throughout her high school career. During her junior year, she participated in every activity and special event that was offered by the Illinois Restaurant Association's Educational Foundation.

Work Experience: Michelle's ProStart learning’s made her a top candidate when Hyatt Regency Chicago was looking for summer interns. Michelle hit a turning point when she discovered a passion for the industry and quickly became a star intern. This culminated in her being offered one of only four paid positions for the school year.

Commitment to ProStart: Mrs. New exposes her students to the larger world through the eyes of the restaurant industry, outside her students' small, isolated, rural town. With the use of practical application, hands on instruction and intensive chapter work, her students leave Yoncalla H.S. with a well-rounded, in-depth culinary education.

What makes these accomplishments even more astounding is that she achieves them within the strained economic structure that affects many small, rural schools. In spite of limited resources and the demand of teaching multiple subject areas, she manages to find the time and energy to instill a love and fascination for the food and the industry.

Mrs. New has been a ProStart teacher for three years and has attended all three levels of Summer Institutes to bring back the best foodservice instruction to her students.

Commitment to ProStart: Chef Heilman has been a leading chef in the industry for many years and then decided to become a teacher to educate the future leaders of our industry. She is a devoted teacher who cares about each individual and really makes a point to get to know each student. The respect and admiration that she has earned from her students is evident upon watching her teach.

Last October, Chef Heilman decided to bring a team to the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational. Because of her efforts and dedication to the team, as well as her team's amazing culinary abilities, the team placed first in the state of Maryland. They then traveled to the National ProStart Student Invitational in April.

Commitment to ProStart: Tyra has developed the program at Covington H.S. to being one of the top in the state of Louisiana. In just three years, her competition teams have placed first in Gourmet Meal and first Knowledge twice. She is very committed to the program and has always gone the extra step to help her students develop.

Tyra truly cares about her students as she keeps in touch with them after graduation to further aid in industry development. She has a large number of students earning their National ProStart Certificate of Achievement and these students are either continuing their studies in post-secondary schools or entering directly into the industry.

Tyra has been a ProStart teacher for four years and was recently named the 2004-2005 Teacher of the Year.

Commitment to ProStart: Susan Moberg goes above and beyond the call of duty for her ProStart students. She spends countless hours after school, before school and on weekends, joyously giving time to her students. Her competition team was in need of boccolini for their competition dish, and Susan drove 250 miles to Spokane to pick it up - a true testament to her dedication to her students.

Susan has been teaching ProStart for five years and was named ProStart Teacher of the Year. She is also traveling to Italy this summer at her own expense for a two-week intensive culinary institute.

Commitment to ProStart: Chef Crawford has made a full commitment to his students and their future careers in the industry by going above and beyond his job description. Introducing a student enterprise program giving his students the opportunity to cater in-school events, meeting with students before and after hours for competition training, creating on-going fundraising activities to support the program, and maintaining strong relationships with former colleagues as a means for key sponsorship opportunities are only a few of the ways Chef Crawford has expanded the ProStart program at Westinghouse. In the classroom Chef Crawford takes his many years of Executive Sous Chef experience and applies his learning’s to classroom teaching.

Chef Crawford was named the 2005 Illinois ProStart Teacher of the Year as well as the 2005 James H. Maynard Excellence in Education Award recipient. The latter award honored Chef Crawford for being one of the best ProStart teachers across the country for his commitment to the ProStart program.

Commitment to ProStart: Emlyn Thomas, Illinois' 2004 ProStart Mentor of the Year, truly goes above and beyond for ProStart students. He has hired students, hosted the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's (IRAEF) mentoring workshop, offered his restaurants for field trips and job shadowing, has been a guest speaker in the classroom and now serves as a Trustee on the IRAEF Board of Directors.

Emlyn has been a mentor for the program for three years, is currently mentoring a Year 2 ProStart student, and two former ProStart students who are currently attending college in a restaurant/foodservice program. His answer to any request from a student or the Foundation is always "Yes!"

Commitment to ProStart: Greg has supported the ProStart program as a mentor for the past six years. In addition to mentoring ProStart students, Greg has participated in fundraisers that raised over $30,000 each solely for the ProStart program. He played a hand in helping the winning Louisiana culinary team prepare for their state competition. Greg has many former ProStart students currently working for him in his restaurants. Greg is also a voice of ProStart as he urges other members to support the program.

Described by the Louisiana State Restaurant Association, "Greg has done everything in his power to make the ProStart program a success in Louisiana!"

Commitment to ProStart: Ken has been mentoring ProStart students since it's inception in 1997. He has provided the support and encouragement that has made a true difference in the self-worth of students who have been employed by him at Culver's.

Ken has also provided classroom support to ProStart teachers, helping them to teach interviewing and work ethic skills, assisting with mentoring for Wisconsin's ProStart Hospitality Management Competitions as well as providing monetary support through his business and the Eastern Shore Chapter of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.

As described by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Ken is "patient, genuine, honest and hardworking... and always keeps school the top priority for the all students."

Commitment to ProStart: Mark has been mentoring ProStart students for the past four years. Mark began supporting the program by hiring students to work with him in the kitchen, as he was a chef in a local restaurant. After moving 7 hours away, Mark continues his support by coaching the California culinary team to prepare them for competition. He helped coach them through modern technology - via the internet and digital camera. Mark even made the 7-hour drive three weekends in a row to help them prepare.

Outside of competition, Mark helped ProStart students bring to life a scholarship dinner to raise money to help current students continue their education in college. He has also been a great influence in Foster Farms support.

Commitment to ProStart: For the past two years, Dave has provided guidance, motivation, support and friendship to everyone participating in the ProStart program in Oregon. His commitment to ProStart has meant time away from his family as well as time away from the start-up of his own catering business.

Dave has been a great contributor to preparing Oregon's culinary team for the state and national competitions. He willingly drives 48 miles to and from his home, sometimes 3-4 days a week, to work with the students of Yoncalla High School, sharing his knowledge and skills and asks nothing in return…except that the kids work their hardest.