BHS dominates at state ProStart

Two student teams headed to nationals next month

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BROOKINGS – Two teams of restaurant-minded students from Brookings High School are headed to a national competition after taking top honors in the 10th annual South Dakota ProStart Invitational.

The ProStart Invitational is an intense, fast-paced event, with teams vying for state titles in a culinary division and a business management division. Nearly 70 high school students participated in the competition, held March 13-14 in Mitchell.

BHS Culinary Team members are Rachel Timmerman, Dylan Geraets, Hunter Lipinski, Skylar Dentlinger and Kylee Heaton.

BHS Management Team members are Kayla Gulickson, Keah Dixon and Andrew Rasmussen. The teams competed under the direction of instructor Joline Dunbar.

In the culinary portion of the competition, teams of students demonstrated knife skills and then had 60 minutes to prepare a three-course gourmet meal without the use of electricity.

Many of the state’s premier chefs watched closely, scoring the teams on numerous factors including knife skills, presentation, taste, sanitation and teamwork.

Teams also went head-to-head in a business management competition. They gave presentations on the steps they would take to start up a restaurant. In addition to presenting details about the concept to one set of judges, a second set of food-service professionals grilled the teams about their business plans.

The ProStart Invitational is a joint effort of the South Dakota Department of Education, the South Dakota Retailers Association and the South Dakota ProStart Advisory Committee.

The National ProStart Invitational is in Charleston, S.C., April 28-30.

Participating students were from the following high schools: Aberdeen Central A-TEC, Britton-Hecla, Brookings, Huron, McIntosh, Madison Central, Mitchell CTE Academy, Mobridge-Pollock and Sioux Falls CTE Academy.

ProStart is a nationwide high school curriculum developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. It helps prepare high school students for leadership positions in the workplace by teaching skills which are crucial in any place of employment.

Combining hands-on learning in the classroom with mentored work experience, the program provides education on culinary skills, safety, inventory, cost controls, customer service, business math and other practical business management skills.

ProStart reaches nearly 140,000 students in all 50 states, Guam and at Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Europe and the Pacific. In South Dakota, 12 school districts offer the ProStart program.