Taunton, Carver and Nantucket High School Students Prove They’re Best-of-the-Best
Snapchef was proud to serve as the major sponsor for the 2019 Massachusetts ProStart Student Invitational held February 12 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The annual event is the region’s premier culinary and restaurant management competition for high school students.
This year’s ProStart Student Invitational attracted eight teams of eight students from across the Bay State in a head-to-head challenge. To cheer the students on, special guests in attendance were three-time Super Bowl Champion and New England Patriot Matthew Slater; WCVB5 Boston News Anchor and Reporter Maria Stephanos; and two-time Super Bowl Champion and former New England Patriot Jarvis Green.
Students were given a fictitious location, ProStartville, which the competition is based on. Student teams started by developing proposals to launch a new restaurant concept. In the proposal, teams were responsible for fully defining their concept, developing a menu that fit the concept, and developing a marketing plan to support the restaurant’s launch. They prepared written proposals and made verbal presentations with visual displays.
Additionally, student culinary teams exhibited a mastery of knife skills and poultry fabrication. They then had 60 minutes to cook an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Students provided all recipes, recipe costs and menu pricing.
Massachusetts students receive many leadership and scholarship opportunities through ProStart and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which sponsors and organizes the annual competition. Judges are industry professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to make the competition more meaningful for students.
Snapchef CEO Todd Snopkowski and staff were on hand to scout and support these very talented students. We want to offer our sincerest congratulations to all the winners, who received a range of scholarship opportunities and were invited to compete at the National ProStart Student Invitational competition in Washington, D.C. this May, where they could win hundreds of thousands in scholarships. We’re proud to support New England’s finest young culinary talent!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ProStart 2018 Massachusetts Culinary Winners:
1st Place – Taunton High School
Andrew Carter
Brandon Rodrigues
Marina Nowacki
Nicole Bliss
Derek Lewis
Instructor: Leigh Howlett & John Collins
2nd Place – Carver Middle High School
Alexis Durham
Trevor Drakakis
Sawyer Shaw
Tori Dibble
Kailey Neil
Instructor: Dan Portelance
3rd Place – Nantucket High School
Brianna Falconer
Leland John Gibbons Topham
Edward John Clarkson
Zuri Lewis
Instructor: Tom Proch
