Courtesy/HIEF
NMRA News:
ALBUQUERQUE — The Hospitality Industry Education Foundation (HIEF) and New Mexico Restaurant Association (NMRA) will host the 20th Annual New Mexico ProStart Invitational in Albuquerque today Feb. 27, at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown, at 2600 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110.
More than 75 top New Mexico High School students from across the state including Los Alamos demonstrate their mastery of Culinary and Management skills in a fast-paced competition to win their share of $1,000,000 in scholarships. The best time to film the competition is around 10 a.m., when the schools will be deep in the competition.
The 1st place team in each category will be crowned the State Champions and represent New Mexico at the National ProStart Invitational May 2-4 in Washington, D.C.
The culinary competition highlights the creative abilities of each team as they prepare a three-course meal in 60 minutes, using only two butane burners with no access to running water or electricity. Teams are evaluated on taste, teamwork, safety and sanitation, among other skills. Management teams develop a business proposal for an original restaurant concept and present it to a panel of industry judges, who challenge them to address the issues restaurant managers face on a daily basis.
Students from these New Mexico high schools will compete for the state championship:
- Atrisco Heritage;
- Carlsbad;
- Dulce;
- Gallup Central;
- Los Alamos;
- Mayfield;
- Silver;
- Volcano Vista; and
- Taos.
Tom Schuch, the Director of Education of the New Mexico Restaurant Association, also is the coordinator for the NM ProStart program.
“These juniors and seniors go through intensive two-year culinary programs that teach them not only marketable industry skills but also give them real-world work experience that will benefit them the rest of their lives,” he said.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, the New Mexico Restaurant Association is working with 36 high schools across the state to introduce more than 1,800 students to career opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality foodservice industries through the ProStart program. Nationally, ProStart is taught in more than 1800 schools and reaches nearly 140,000 students in the United States, Guam, and Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Europe and Asia.
For more information and a cool video on the New Mexico ProStart program, visit this link.
About the New Mexico Restaurant Association:
The New Mexico Restaurant Association’s mission is to empower the food and beverage industry by promoting and protecting common values and interests. It has more than 1,300 members in 111 cities all over New Mexico, who join together for meetings, seminars, and the hospitality industry to honor the industry’s top achievers. It has actively represented and promoted the food service industry in New Mexico since 1946. For more information on NMRA, visit www.nmrestaurants.org.
About the Hospitality Industry Education Foundation (HIEF):
HIEF is a multi-faceted charitable foundation that provides assistance to industry workers, scholarships for continuing education, and funds the statewide ProStart Program, helping high school students gain vital skills for careers in hospitality. https://www.nmrestaurants.org/hief-2/