Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Restaurant Association.
For many in the restaurant industry, learning to cook came naturally. For others, it required years of schooling. That’s where people like ProStart chef instructor Jimmy Le come in.
Sponsored by the Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation (LRAEF), ProStart is a nationwide, two-year program that primarily teaches students about the restaurant industry, including culinary skills and management techniques. Currently, 48 state high schools feature the program.
As a ProStart instructor, Le works with students at Northeast High School in Pride, La. Before that, he was a ProStart mentor at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge. He has about 12 years of experience in the food service industry to draw upon for lessons.
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The program touches on other aspects, such as restaurant management, food nutrition and food safety and sanitation. Additionally, Le says, the students must learn applied forms of math and foreign language. The program teaches cost control—culinary math—and applied French language so the students know French culinary terms.
“Students have to be reprogrammed on what they think this course is,” Le says. “Most think it is just cooking, but there is so much more to it.”
Le says the program gives students a leg up on continuing their education in the culinary arts or the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry. If the student completes ProStart, he or she will obtain up to 12 college credit hours and at least 400 working hours in the service industry.
“For those who do want to pursue those fields, there are exclusive LRAEF scholarship opportunities for those who completed ProStart,” Le says. “There is also an annual culinary and management competition where the students could obtain scholarship money.”
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For more information on the scholarships, click here. For more information on the program, click here.
—Natalie Reina
Editor’s note: This story has been modified since its original posting.