Let’s talk prizes first and foremost. When you purchase a ticket you are entered to win a 2012 Infiniti G25 from J.B.A. Infiniti of Ellicott City or $25,000 cash. You also could win the second prize of $7,500 or third place prize of $5,000. There is even more, NEW, this year, an early bird drawing, if you have purchased your raffle ticket by noon, November 5th you are entered to win $2,500.

Watch the video and read more HERE

Dine around, drive away is the name of the Restaurant Association of Maryland’s raffle and it benefits the Maryland ProStart program for high school culinary programs. You are buying restaurant coupons anyhow why not have a chance at $25,000 or Audi A3? The 2nd and 3rd prizes aren’t too shabby either – 2nd is $10,000 cash and 3rd prize is $5,000 cash.

Carver Center for Arts and Technology won the 2010 Maryland State ProStart culinary competition

Get the FULL DETAILS:   $300 in restaurant coupons and a chance to win $25,000 or an Audi A3

Imagine yourself 15 years old, dreaming of a career in the culinary world but where do you go to follow this dream. Across the country there are high schools offering a program called ProStart which allows these dreamers to make dreams a reality. These ‘wanna cook’ kids are able to make their dreams come true early.

Check out the video and snaps, get the full story on a day in the life of a high school culinary competition:
ProStart high school students walk away with culinary honors. Video and snaps

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Can’t get enough reality food television? Enjoy when it comes down to the wire when the chefs put their hands up in the air when time is up? Enthralled by the ability of the chefs to adapt to unusual working restraints? How would you like to come see the real deal? It is FREE and YOU are invited.

Love Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen and Chopped?

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I’m like the proud auntie, no direct connection to the success of the Carver Center for the Arts and Technology management team though I co-mentored the culinary team to 2nd place statewide – it makes me meshpokha (extended family). For my loyal readers, all three of you, here is a link to the story ‘does your child like to cook’, about the state competition but do read on about the first Maryland ProStart team to place in the national competition.

The Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation (RAMEF) announced today that the high school hospitality management team from the Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Baltimore County took 4th place at the National ProStart Invitational in San Diego, CA this past weekend.

The National ProStart Invitational provided the stage for 31 high school teams from across the country to compete against one another in a hospitality management competition. Teams were given a “case study” that involved several problems and situations that might arise in the hospitality industry on any given day. After 30 minutes of preparation, the team then had to make a presentation to judges on how they would handle those situations. Judges then scored their presentations based on how the team addressed customer relations, inter-departmental communications, staffing and labor, sanitation, safety and organization. Teams also competed against one another in a knowledge bowl, answering questions about hospitality management, culinary arts and food safety. Judges included hospitality industry professionals and instructors from post secondary schools with hospitality management programs. Over 1 million dollars in scholarship money and national bragging rights were on the line for the top finishing teams in the competition.

This was the second year in a row that the Carver Center and instructor Bette Mullins had won the Maryland ProStart Student Invitational and earned the right to represent Maryland in the national competition. Team members Brina Furman, Rachel Sherman, Brenna Hoffman, Tara Lewis, and Thomas Burch each earned a $500 scholarship from both McCormick and Whole Foods Market for winning the state competition, along with several scholarship awards from numerous post secondary institutions. “These students put in hours and hours of work to prepare for the national competition”, stated Mullins, “I am extremely proud of their 4th place finish and they exceeded all my expectations”.

For placing 4th in the nation, each student on the team will receive a $500 scholarship from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and the Coca Cola Company along with a gift bag worth over $200 in culinary tools and materials. This is in addition to the scholarships awarded to them for finishing first at the state competition.

“This is the best finish for any Maryland team in the National ProStart Invitational” commented Marshall Weston Jr., Executive Vice President of RAMEF. “Having the highest score in the knowledge bowl competition is what propelled this team to 4th in the nation. This group highlights the caliber of students we have in the ProStart program in Maryland.”

The ProStart program is a high school culinary and hospitality management curriculum that also requires 400 hours of paid industry work experience in order to receive a ProStart National Certificate of Achievement. Students completing the ProStart program are qualified to enter the workforce in positions above entry level and are on a fast track to management careers. ProStart is endorsed by the Maryland State Department of Education and also prepares students for post secondary education at culinary schools and hospitality management programs.

Weston added that “It is the partnerships between the industry and education that has helped these students achieve nationally recognized success. The financial support and mentoring of those in the industry are what enabled the Carver Center for the Arts to perform at the highest level.”