Forty High Schools to Expand Their Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management Programs Thanks to Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grants

$5,000 grants will improve students' ProStart experience with updated curriculum, supplies, and educational opportunities

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forty high schools from 24 states will receive $5,000 grants from the Rachael Ray Foundation to build up their National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation ProStart culinary arts and restaurant management programs. Since creating these awards, the Rachael Ray Foundation has provided 113 high school grants, totaling $950,000.

The grants from the Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grant Program will help educators build the tools to teach their students career-building skills using the ProStart curriculum. The schools can use their Grow Grant funds to make classroom upgrades or purchase new equipment and resources. The NRAEF expects that the grants will benefit more than 3,500 students and 53 educators in the 2023-2024 school year.

"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.

"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.

The following schools will receive 2023 Rachael Ray Foundation ProStart Grow Grants:

Alpharetta High School – Alpharetta, Georgia
Florence High School – Florence, South Dakota
Franklin Towne Charter High School – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fulton Schools College and Career Academy – Union City, Georgia
Garinger High School – Charlotte, North Carolina
Hagerty High School – Oviedo, Florida
John Marshal High School – Rochester, Minnesota
Lake Forest High School – Felton, Delaware
Laramie High School – Laramie, Wyoming
Lincoln High School – Lincoln, Rhode Island
New Horizons Regional Education Centers – Newport News, Virginia
NRHEG Public Schools – New Richland, Minnesota
Ocean Springs High School – Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Ohio Valley CTC – West Union, Ohio
Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School – Rochester, Massachusetts
Opelika High School – Opelika, Alabama
Osseo-Fairchild High School – Osseo, Wisconsin
Otsego Northern Catskill BOCES – Grand George, New York
Owatonna High School – Owatonna, Minnesota
Pepin Academies – Tampa, Florida
Questar III Robert H. Gibson Technical School – Troy, New York
Rapid City Central High School – Rapid City, South Dakota
Raton High School – Raton, New Mexico
Ridgeview High School – Orange Park, Florida
Saddle Brook High School – Saddle Brook, New Jersey
Sherman High School – Sherman, Texas
Sherman Indian High School – Riverside, California
Staples-Motley High School – Staples, Minnesota
Summit High School – Frisco, Colorado
Treasure Coast High School – Port St. Lucie, Florida
Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Vernon High School – Vernon, Florida
Wakefield High School – Raleigh, North Carolina
Warren Technical School – Chamblee, Georgia
Washington Career and Technical Education Center – Washington, Louisiana
Washington Park High School – Racine, Wisconsin
Western Technology Center – Burns Flat, Oklahoma
Wilbur Cross High School – New Haven, Connecticut
Wisconsin Lutheran High School – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wythe County Technology Center – Wytheville, Virginia

About the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF): As the supporting philanthropic foundation of the National Restaurant Association, the NRAEF's charitable mission includes enhancing the industry's training and education, career development, and community engagement efforts. The NRAEF and its programs work to Attract, Empower, and Advance today's and tomorrow's restaurant and foodservice workforce. NRAEF programs include: ProStart® – a high-school career and technical education program; Restaurant Ready/HOPES – Partnering with community based organizations to provide people with skills training and job opportunities; Military – helping military servicemen and women transition their skills to restaurant and foodservice careers; Scholarships – financial assistance for students pursuing restaurant, foodservice and hospitality degrees; and the Restaurant & Hospitality Leadership Center (RHLC) – accredited apprenticeship programs designed to build the careers of service professionals. For more information on the NRAEF, visit ChooseRestaurants.org. Click here for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's 2022 Annual Impact Report.  

About The Rachael Ray Foundation: The Rachael Ray Foundation™ (RRF) is a private foundation that is fully funded by the proceeds from the sale of Rachael Ray™ Nutrish®. RRF was launched by Rachael in 2016 to better support the causes she cares for most such as helping animals in need. Additionally, RRF works with organizations that support the mission of Yum-o!, Rachael's 501c3, in order to bolster and amplify their efforts through additional funding. Yum-o! empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking. It also teaches families to cook, feeds hungry kids, and funds cooking education, among other initiatives.

SOURCE National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation