Eight Georgia high school teams traveled to Duluth on Friday, March 21, 2025, for a statewide competition focused on culinary arts and food-service management to win scholarships, top honors, and more at the Georgia ProStart Invitational. Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Berkmar High School (pictured below) took home top honors, and it will represent Georgia at the premier national high school culinary arts and food-service management competition in Baltimore May 2-4.

These schools will join over 92 teams from across the country to vie for top high school culinary and restaurant management honors and almost $200,000 in scholarships to support their future restaurant and hospitality industry aspirations. Additionally, chef Belinda Delvasto of Maxwell High School of Technology was named the Georgia ProStart Educator of Excellence for her demonstrated excellence in the classroom. Coca-Cola presented ProStart Student of the Year to Dayla Brown, a Maxwell High School of Technology senior. Brown was awarded a scholarship to the college of her choice.

At the 2025 National ProStart Invitational (NPSI) in Baltimore, the culinary and management teams from Berkmar High School will join nearly 400 students to test their skills in front of culinary and food-service business leaders, family, and friends. The three-day event will feature an opening ceremony, two days of powerful culinary and restaurant management competition, and an awards dinner. The top five teams from the culinary and management competitions will earn coveted scholarships to continue their restaurant or food-service education.

"These young chefs have proven that with hard work and dedication, they have the opportunity to turn their culinary dreams into reality," said Stephanie Fischer, GRA President + CEO. “I’m so excited to have Berkmar High School represent Georgia nationally when they compete in Baltimore.”

Supported by the Georgia Restaurant Association, ProStart is a high school program that gives students interested in food-service and hospitality careers a head start by teaching culinary techniques and management skills through an industry-driven curriculum. Upon completing the ProStart program, students receive an industry-recognized certificate, and employers get well-prepared, enthusiastic employees.

This exciting competition showcases the talents and classroom skills of ProStart students from high schools nationwide. Students must impress judges from leading industry corporations, colleges, and universities with skills developed through ProStart. The NPSI is composed of two distinct competitions: culinary and management.

The culinary competition highlights each team’s creative abilities by preparing a three-course meal in 60 minutes, using only two butane burners and without access to running water or electricity. Students are evaluated on taste, skill, teamwork, safety, and sanitation. Management teams develop a proposal for the next promising restaurant concept and present it to industry judges. Their problem-solving skills are tested as they quickly solve challenges faced by managers daily. 

The top five teams from the culinary and management competitions are awarded generous educational scholarships to help further their careers in the restaurant and food-service industry. In 2024, more than $200,000 in scholarships were awarded to winning students. 

In addition to a week of intense contests among the nation’s top culinary students, NPSI will also announce the 2025 recipients of the ProStart Educator of Excellence Awards (EEA), which recognize exceptional ProStart educators in their classrooms. Each participating state restaurant association nominates its leading educator who has demonstrated a strong commitment to students and the ProStart program. This year’s EEA winners will be announced, along with three honorees in the categories of Classroom Expertise, Best Practice and Knowledge Sharing, and Industry Connections. The National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF) will also reveal the James H. Maynard Teacher of the Year Award recipient, recognizing one EEA winner for their tireless dedication to providing remarkable experiences to their ProStart students. 

For more information on the ProStart program, visit ChooseRestaurants.org/ProStart.