The OH culinary and restaurant management students recently competed in the Illinois ProStart Invitational at Sysco Foods and won third place.
“The ProStart program is an opportunity for students to compete and earn scholarship money. First place is a free education at any school in the world. It offers a lot of opportunities,” OH Chef and teacher Thomas Dwyer said.
The Illinois ProStart Invitational, held at Sysco Foods, is one of the most prominent culinary and restaurant management competitions that mainly focuses on time management, working as a team, and the ability to adapt under pressure.
“The hardest part isn’t working in the kitchen because we do skills training, but the team aspect is difficult. The team has to plan their schedule, work together, and organize everything,” said Dwyer.
The team that is chosen to compete in this competition prepares and works on these skills every Sunday, dedicating their time to perfecting every dish as a team. These weekly sessions last between 12-5 p.m., where they focus on improving and refining their techniques as a team to be competition-ready.
“This competition was the epitome of teamwork. I wouldn’t have been able to get anything done without the help of my teammates… We did constant check-ins, kitchen checks, glove checks, and time checks, each being yelled out with strong responses to make sure everyone was good,” said Katelyn Thilk OH culinary student.
The team’s accomplishments were mainly due to their strong determination and communication as a team. They learned how to trust each other and work efficiently even with little time. Their inspirational teamwork helped them get their third-place title in the competition.
“I was completely shocked we had placed third. We had found out that we were missing ingredients from our bins in the middle of cooking, therefore causing us to miss aspects of the plates that the judges were looking for,” Thilk said. “Because of this, we thought we had gotten at most 5th place; we thought our chances were lost.”
Even when their team faced challenges throughout the competition, the team stayed calm and quickly adjusted. They worked together to make changes to help them keep moving forward as the time quickly ran out.
“Mistakes happen. It’s not about the mistakes you make along the way but instead learning from them and moving forward,” Hunter Barrow, OH culinary student said.
With this mindset, the team recovered from the unexpected challenges they went through in the competition. Even when things didn’t go exactly as they planned, they still managed to stay focused and demonstrated their vast adaptability skills to any situation.
“Once they’ve gone into the competition, they have a whole new understanding of what it takes. They learned a lot about themselves,” Dwyer said.
The ProStart competition didn’t only test their skills, but also strengthened their ability to work under pressure as well.
With each person in the team dedicated to their role in the competition, they made sure to show the true meaning of teamwork, which ultimately led to their success.
The third-place title at the Illinois ProStart Invitational expresses the teamwork and dedication of the Oswego High School culinary and restaurant management team. This experience helped them learn and prepare for future challenges. As these dedicated students continue to learn and refine their skills, the future looks bright for them.
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