Culinary Competitions

Let's talk about the different opportunities for competition. My program competes in SkillsUSA culinary arts, commercial baking, and food & beverage service. We have also competed in ProStart, although I don't know if we will this year due to the expense (Indiana gives very little support). What are your experiences with competitions? Worth it?

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Permalink Reply by Chris on July 31, 2009 at 2:02am: I can be a great experience for them if they are prepared for the competitions. This was my first year with skills USA and although my students were prepared and did very well there were some that really weren't ready and they dropped out in the middle of the competition. I am also going to have my students compete in C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) I really like the format they use.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Greg Beachey, CCC on September 7, 2009 at 9:44am: We did compete in the ProStart management last school year, and took third at state. I like the looks of the new management contest, and look forward to checking it out even more! Plus two of my students qualified for SkillsUSA nationals. One placed 26th in culinary and another took 5th in F & B service.

It was a good year for us!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Richmond Flowers on September 7, 2009 at 11:32am: In Tennessee we set up competitions on individual catagories IE soup or hot entrees at different Host High Schools. The students love it and gives them bragging rights.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lynn Bourinaris, CEC,CCE on September 8, 2009 at 8:32pm: Hello Chef Greg. I had a student from Food & Beverage compete in National's this year! She did not win but they always have a great time at skills!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Greg Beachey, CCC on September 24, 2009 at 6:58am: Has everyone seen the new ProStart management contest? I LOVE IT! It is very real-life and very difficult. No more straight memorization of the text to win. Great job Bill Nolan, Jerry Chesser, and whoever else worked on this.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Susan Moberg on October 18, 2009 at 10:09am: I've had students compete in the ProStart Competition for the past 8 years. We've done well, going to nationals once and placing in the top three in either the cooking competition or management competition every year. I'm trying Skills USA for the first time for 2009-10. I like the idea of students applying skills they've learned in class and having to think on their feet as opposed to practicing the same items 50 times and memorizing what to do.

The expense and time commitment for ProStart is huge. All of our practices are held after school and on weekends so students have to be very committed. The new management competition is very difficult and will take huge amounts of time to do well. Our state used to have a similar event for management and we spent hours and hours after school preparing. We are going to wait for a year and decide whether to compete in the new ProStart management event. Can't wait to see what teams do with it.; ▶ Reply to This