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Culinary contest attracts 140 talented Michigan students
The fifth annual Michigan ProStart® Student Competition, which was held at the McCamly Plaza Hotel and Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on March 6-7, 2006, showcased some of Michigan’s best culinary and management high school students.
More than 140 teens from 20 participating ProStart® high schools throughout the state participated in this year two-day state competition.
The Culinary Competition, sponsored by SYSCO Companies of Michigan, offered 17 teams (each composed of two to four young culinarians) the opportunity to strive for excellence by delivering the best three-course meal for judging in just 60 minutes.
Our team of professional judges, lead by Randy Emert of Great Oaks Country Club, evaluated each finished product on product taste, safety and sanitation, team work skills, finished product, as well as menu and recipe presentation.
Each culinary team along with their instructors was given the opportunity to sit with the panel of judges during the critique.
Kenyatta Brame, senior vice president of SYSCO Food Services of Grand Rapids, was on hand to present medals and scholarships to the top three teams. The winners were:
First place – Fruitport High School
Second place – Plymouth-Canton Educational Park
Third place – Mason-Lake ISD
The Management Competition, sponsored by Gordon Food Service, offered serious-minded management career seekers with a Case Study and Knowledge Bowl competition. The Case Study portion of the Management Competition was a team event where two to four students were given a scenario, 30 minutes to come up with their solution to the scenario and 10 minutes to present their solution to the judges. The students used their skills to work as a team to take on industry roles such as general manager, food and beverage manager and catering manager. During the 10-minute presentation to the judges, students stated how they would solve the scenario under the role that they were assigned.
The Knowledge Bowl portion of the competition continued with the same case study teams in a “jeopardy” style game show format. Each of the 13 participating teams answered as many questions as they could in an effort to secure the highest point score.
Management lead judge, Barrie Borovsky of the MGM Grand-Detroit, was on the scene both days to make sure that the students and judges had everything they needed.
Jeff Snyder, director of marketing for the Great Lakes East Division of Gordon Food Service, presented the medals and scholarships to the Management Competition winning teams. The winners were:
First place – Mason-Lake ISD
Second place – Calhoun Area Technology Center
Third place – Pioneer High School-Ann Arbor
The teams that earned first place in the Culinary and Management Competitions will represent Michigan in the 2006 National ProStart® Student Invitational, held April 30-May 2, 2006 at the Westin in Charlotte, North Carolina.
2004-2005 Teacher of the Year award winner is Kristen Dogan, Branch Area Career Center.
Each year a ProStart® Teacher is selected by other ProStart® instructors and the Michigan Restaurant Association Educational Support Foundation (MRA ESF) Board of Trustees.
This year’s recipient is Kristen Dogan of Branch Area Career Center. Dogan has been utilizing the ProStart® program for the past five years. She has been involved in the ProStart® Advisory Committee and has never missed an opportunity to work with the MRA on improving the program at the state level. Upon beginning the ProStart® program at her career center, she took an under-enrolled program and turned it into one of the center’s most popular programs. It is now running at full capacity.
Some of her many accomplishments include:
- Working to align the ProStart® curriculum with state and federal benchmarks;
- Taking a conversational Spanish class at the local community college to assist with ESL students in her class;
- Becoming a valued member of the School Improvement Team;
- Becoming a registered ServSafe Food Safety Instructor;
- Earning a certificate of accomplishment for Artisan Bread Baking from the Culinary Institute of America;
- Working with her students in a Cultural Diversity Professional Development training program available to all teachers at her career center. Her students received a standing ovation.
Dogan is a 1985 graduate from the University of Colorado and is currently working on a master’s degree through Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. Congratulations to Kristen Dogan for her continued commitment towards creating tomorrow’s foodservice leaders.
Thank you to our sponsors: American Express Co., Gordon Food Service, International Food Service Executives Association (IFSEA), Michaels & Associates and SYSCO Food Services of Michigan. Without them we could not reach so many young and talented high school students and help develop their skills and commitment to Michigan’s hospitality industry.
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