Culinary competition award students divine experiences

Douglas High School culinary arts students were offered $20,000 in scholarships during the 21st annual ProStart Invitational Competition at the University of Nevada Las Vegas on March 2.

It was the second year Douglas High School has participated in the contest and brought home awards.

“Last year I took two and they did really well,” said Douglas High School Culinary Arts teacher Sarah Crofton. “This year I had 12 compete. I think it’s growing in interest and the kids are seeing the benefits of going and participating.”

The competition is part of the National Restaurant Association, a high school curriculum program for culinary techniques and restaurant management skills where student teams from across the country demonstrates their skills in culinary and business acumen at state competitions.

Students could participate in four events at the competition: culinary, management, tier cream cake and buttercream cake.

Two Douglas teams tackled the culinary contest, one team took second place during the culinary competition, the other team took third, and sophomore Peyton McGuffin took second in the cake decorating competition.

The culinary competition highlights each team’s creative abilities through the preparation of a three-course meal in 60 minutes using only two butane burners and without access to running water or electricity.

“A lot of them were surprised by how much work and dedication it took for this one competition, but they all seemed to value and appreciate the opportunity,” said Crofton.

Crofton said the two winning teams were offered scholarships from two different schools.

“The second place team was offered $6,000 each from two different schools, and the third place team was offered $4,000 each from two schools,” she said. “So, they can choose which school they want and have a scholarship waiting for them.”

Crofton said the judges of the competition are well-known, accredited, and respected chefs from the industry who provided students with valuable feedback, offered internships and connections to the industry.

Crofton said aside from the competition, students toured the Wynn Las Vegas resort and met the executive chef.

“They got to try things they never thought they could do, make things they have never made or known of before and they got to experience the industry outside of their comfort zone and their little bubble in rural Northern Nevada,” said Crofton.

Crofton said overall, her students enjoyed the experience from preparing for the competition, being in the beat of it, and meeting and learning from others in the culinary industry.

“It was really cool and I feel like the kids were really jazzed all weekend and made the most of the experience,” she said. “It’s a great example of opportunities that are sometimes over shadowed with the trades, and I want to put the spotlight on it, because there’s still so many opportunities and benefits of pursing a trade.”