nomination letter. The Educator Excellence Awards recognize an exceptional educator from every state who utilizes the ProStart program in his or her classroom. For receiving this award, Rosetti will go on an all-expense paid trip to Chicago to attend the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProStart Educator Excellence Award ceremony. Working with 34 other educators recognized and nominated for their outstanding work, Rosetti will collaborate and exchange ideas to develop a “best practices” guide that will be utilized by schools across the country.
First culinary arts certification class offered in Mississippi Mississippi is one of only two states to offer culinary art teachers Level 1 ProStart training. In July, educators will attend classes at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, or travel to the second location in Daytona, Fla. Level 1 training is the first step in a four-part series offered by ProStart. This session begins with an overview of the restaurant and food service industry, and includes valuable information about kitchen and management essentials. Teachers will explore communication skills and gain an in-depth knowledge of culinary basics from mise en place through cooking methods. Grady Griffin of the MHRA played an important role in bringing this training program to the state, “As a state organization that serves the professional restaurant and hospitality industry, we’re committed to creating opportunities for our instructors to encounter quality training and national certification. If we have better teachers we have better students. If we have better students, we have better employees. It is important to us as an association because it helps us to grow our own workforce.” Educators spend mornings in classroom settings and afternoons in a kitchen laboratory, transferring classroom theory into hands-on learning. In the evenings, they explore other restaurants to review and see
Connections Spring 2011
ProStart skill demonstrations. In the past, Mississippi teachers had to travel to Illinois, Florida, and South Carolina to gain three levels of ProStart Training and certification, which eventually will be required of all teachers. The Mississippi Department of Education’s five-year goal is to have all culinary arts teachers certified in the three levels of ProStart training. Donna Suddith, a culinary arts teacher at A.P. Fatherree Vocational Center attended and achieved certification at the Chicago institute. “It’s exciting that this institute now is here in our state, not only for the benefit of accessibility and low cost, but also so we can ‘show off’ what we have to offer,” she said. Linda Durand with the Greenville Technical Center gained her training in South Carolina. One of her favorite parts of the training was the experience of meeting other instructors and gaining ideas that she could bring back to her classroom. She said, “It gives you the chance to learn what other schools in other districts are doing. The information exchange with other instructors is just invaluable to a teacher.” For more information about the Prostart Summer Institutes, visit their website: http://prostart. restaurant.org/educator/institutes/
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