Coach’s Low Country Brands™ Sponsors 2008 National ProStart®® Invitational

On April 24-26, Coach’s Low Country Brands™ again sponsored the seventh annual National ProStart®® Invitational in San Diego, CA. The Town and Country Resort and Convention Center hosted over 270 Culinary and Management student competitors from 35 states and territories. With almost 800 attendees, students, teachers, families, mentors, judges, industry, state NRA associations and sponsors on hand Thursday night, Coach Joe Crosby delivered the keynote address.

Coach reminded the students and the audience how important they are and encouraged them to follow their dreams. Having passion and belief in your selves was the message that resonated throughout his speech. Just prior to finishing his address Coach and his team rolled out the Coach’s Low Country Institute to the students and teachers. The “institute” will be a home to ProStart®® students, alumni, teachers and industry. The non-profit facility will bring in industry leaders to provide additional training and seminars to students & teachers who are planning careers in the culinary and hospitality world. The “institute” is planning to open in the 3rd quarter of 2009. Upon finishing his announcement, Coach invited all attendees to join him poolside for a traditional Low Country Buffet.

Student competitors spent Friday, April 25 in grueling culinary and case studies competition. With minimal on-site preparation time and under the scrutiny of “multiple” judges, the state teams were allowed to showcase their knowledge and skills. The competition was tough and all of the teams were prepared.  It came down to which of the student teams were able to work in unison to move into the TOP slots.

Saturday’s announcements and recognition at the Coca Cola Awards Ceremony Dinner was the capstone of the weekend. Students and teachers spent their entire school year preparing for the night. Students took home over $1.3M in scholarships. Winning teams also earned additional classroom scholarships earmarked for their high school ProStart®® programs. Teachers of the winning teams in culinary and management also earned additional $2,000.00 “unrestricted” stipends to be used in their classrooms, from Coach’s Low Country Brands. The teachers also received $1,750.00 Summer Teacher Training grants from Coach’s Low Country Brands.

1st Place:
Culinary
Badger High School - Wisconsin

Management
Bend High School – Oregon

2nd Place:
Culinary
Fruitport High School – Michigan

Management
Southern Adirondack Education Center – New York

3rd Place:
Culinary
Wando High School – South Carolina

Management
Technology Center of DuPage – Illinois