Budding chefs wow judges at Carolina's ProStart Student Invitational

High school student teams from Daniel Morgan Technology Center in Spartanburg, S.C., Thunderbolt Career and Technology Center in Walterboro, S.C., and Donaldson Career Center in Greenville, S.C., each took top honors at the 7th Annual Carolina's ProStart Student Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C..

In the state culinary arts contest, sponsored by the The International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute of Charleston, Daniel Morgan Technology Center's team won first place. For the event, Culinary Cup teams of up to four students had 60 minutes to prepare two identical gourmet meals using only two butane burners. They had no electricity, no running water and could use no pre-prepared ingredients.

In the TBonz Restaurant Management Group-sponsored Restaurant Management Competition—in which teams present case study solutions to a panel of industry judges and compete in a Quiz Bowl game—students from Thunderbolt came out victorious.

For for Coach's Low Country Brands Recipe Challenge presented by BI-LO, teams developed unique and creative recipes using Coach's Low Country Seasonings. In addition to creativity, their recipes were judged on taste, cost and ease of preparation. The winning entry was Donaldson Career Center's "Layer It and Forget It Casserole." Plans are underway to feature the team and their winning recipe on BI-LO posters and on a BI-LO TV spot at participating BI-LO food stores. The team also won a $500 BI-LO gift card to be used to help their ProStart program.

In total, 46 teams from 24 high schools in North and South Carolina participated in the event at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel, and the winning teams took home medals, trophies and more than a half million dollars in scholarships. The Thunderbolt and Daniel Morgan high school teams will represent South Carolina at the 2009 National ProStart Invitational in San Diego April 24–26.

Culinary Cup standings:
1. Daniel Morgan Technology Center; Teacher: Tim Page; Students: Michelle Sawyer, Kayla Scruggs, Sarah Anthony, Christina Munoz, Tiffany Brown, Bella Anthony
2. Thunderbolt Career and Technology Center; Teacher: Allison Bailey
3. Blythewood High School; Teacher: William Turner

Restaurant Management Cup standings:
1. Thunderbolt Career and Technology Center; Teacher: Allison Bailey; Students: Lauren Barrett, Victoria Fisher, Briana Jenkins, Lauren Standiford, Floyd Mulligan
2. The Academy for Technology and Academics; Teacher: Sallie Loveland
3. J. Harley Bonds Career Center; Teacher: Jim Miller

Coach's Low Country Recipe Challenge standings:
1. Donaldson Career Center; Teacher: Debbie Taylor; Students: Audrey Corbett, Temperance Sartor, Kim Wilbanks, Briar Thibault, Dusti Smith, Miahia Mansell-Green
2. Marion County Technology Education Center; Teacher: Patricia Owens
3. Dillon Technology Center; Teacher: Bonnie Barfield