Educated Eats

DC’s Ballou High School is Headed to the National ProStart Invitational 

Washington DC hosted its first ever ProStart State Invitational on Tuesday, March 29th, 2022 at THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave, SE, Washington DC.  Two of our DC ProStart schools, Roosevelt High School and Ballou High School, participated in the culinary competition, which lasted about 2 hours.  Each team presented and were judged in 10 culinary categories.  Our awesome judges were RAMW Restaurant and Allied members, who were delighted to offer their time and professional critique.  Both teams were supported by their Chef/Educators, Culinary Directors from their schools, DCPS Administration, and a few family members who were all in attendance.  As ProStart is a National culinary program, it was also great to have so many folks from the National Restaurant Association attend as supporters and cheerleaders.  The teams presented very well, wore their professional hats, and their confidence grew and shined throughout the competition.  It was a great day for all!

This event was a success thanks to our ProStart Educators, Students, and many great sponsors, including The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, The Richard E. & Nancy P. Marriott Foundation, Events DC, Ecolab, Rotary Foundation of Metro Bethesda, National Restaurant Association, Link Strategic Partners, DC Central Kitchen.  

The State Invitational is hosted by each ProStart state and serves to qualify a student team to represent their state at the National ProStart Invitational (NPSI), which will be held May 6-8, 2022 at the Washington Hilton.  Student teams from across the country will travel to DC to compete and showcase their skills.  This year, after a very close marginal win, we are excited to have the Ballou High School culinary team represent Washington, DC at NPSI.   

For reference, ProStart is the nationally recognized high school training curriculum and program created by the National Restaurant Association. It is facilitated here in DC by RAMW’s Education Foundation in partnership with DCPS at Ballou High School (Ward 8), Roosevelt High School and the Roosevelt STAY Program (Ward 5).