WLHS Receives Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant
ProStart is a two-year industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students. WLHS has offered ProStart since 2020. We are grateful to announce that we are one of forty high schools to receive a $5,000 grant from the Rachael Ray Foundation. The funds from the Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant Program will be used to purchase a new reach-in cooler for lab prep days, butane burners for ProStart classes to practice cooking with gas, and update and add to the smaller kitchen tools and equipment.
“The daily investment that ProStart educators make in their classroom as they teach and mentor the next generation of culinary and restaurant management leaders is extraordinary,” said Rachael Ray. “We are optimistic that these grants will give teachers some fresh opportunities to capture the imagination of their students and teach them why our industry is a place where they can build a career.”
This is the fourth round of ProStart Grow Grants awarded by the Rachael Ray Foundation. Past grant recipients have used their funds to purchase needed supplies and new curriculum components, upgrade their class kitchens, and provide students with hands-on educational experiences. Since creating these awards, the Rachael Ray Foundation has provided 113 high school grants to schools across the country, totaling $950,000. The NRAEF expects that this year’s grants will benefit more than 3,500 students and 53 educators nationwide during the 2023-2024 school year.
“Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grants make a huge difference to so many of our ProStart classrooms – funding equipment, supplies, and unique experiences to teach students the fundamentals of culinary arts and restaurant management,” said Rob Gifford, president of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. “We are grateful for the partnership of the Rachael Ray Foundation in helping ProStart educators provide the best classroom possible for each of their students.”
Nearly 165,000 high school students at 1,850 schools are currently part of ProStart, which features hands-on and traditional instruction providing students real-life foodservice experience and skills. The ProStart curriculum combines culinary arts and business education with special industry speakers, class mentors, tours of local culinary facilities, and student competitions to help students learn fundamental skills in the restaurant and hospitality industry. ProStart students emerge with training and certifications to join the restaurant and foodservice workforce. Learn more about the Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant Program here.
