An eye on the industry’s future

Earlier this month, nearly 100 high school students descended on Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Sacramento for the eighth annual Boyds Coffee Culinary Cup competition. Teams competed in culinary and management events, which involved preparing a three-course meal in 60 minutes and presenting a new restaurant concept, respectively. The students showcased what they’ve practiced for countless hours over the months leading up to the big event.
Each team had a support system of instructors, parents and mentors – industry professionals who volunteered to coach the students on various aspects of the competition, such as baking and pastry skills, architecture and guest relations.
While the event is definitely fun, it also is taken very seriously by the teens and adults alike. Though most high school competitions in sports or marching band or academic decathlon are merely extracurricular – many of the students involved in ProStart programs are building a foundation for future careers.
Of the four competing members of the Newport Harbor High School culinary team, which won first place, three were in the process of finding jobs in various hotels and restaurants around Orange County.
“It’s a great feeling to know where I’m going, to have direction,” senior Edgardo Meza said. “It feels awesome to accomplish something like this. We earn a lot of respect from our peers when we’re able to come back to school as winners.”
The California Restaurant Association Educational Foundation has recently revamped its mission to find funding to enhance ProStart schools across the state. So far, three Los Angles-area high schools have been adopted, and the extra funding provides schools with expanded curriculum, and the opportunity for field trips, paid internships, guest speakers, job shadows, ServSafe certification, equipment, supplies and food. Though these students may have already dedicated their lives to the foodservice and hospitality industry, they haven’t had the chance to dine out at a table-service restaurant.
Enhanced ProStart schools have a student population with a majority who receive free and reduced lunch, have more than 50 percent dropout rates and are in gang-infested and low-income communities. Students at these schools have limited access to career guidance and opportunities to break the cycle of poverty. Some students are the first in their families to graduate from high school.
As the industry is poised to employ 15 million workers by 2019, it’s time for operators to take a look at how a program such as ProStart is contributing to the health and viability of the business.

For more information on the ProStart program or the California Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, go online at www.calrest.org/craef.