The Milford High School ProStart team will be competing at the state competition in Hastings on Feb. 8 after a solid performance at regionals in Lincoln on Jan. 25.
Mallory Gregory, Milford High School Family & Consumer Science teacher, said in a ProStart culinary competition, there are three rounds of competition at the state level: regionals, state and the Final 3.
Gregory said for the culinary competition, a team consists of two to five members. If five are on a team, one has to be the team manager and cannot cook. The manager’s role is to coordinate the team and step in if someone gets hurt.
Each team then has to develop and carry out a three-course menu consisting of a starter, entree and dessert. The team has to plate the menu for two.
Gregory said if two plates of each course are not plated within the time frame, judges deduct points for every 30 seconds over time. After 10 minutes over the 60 minutes, teams are disqualified.
Gregory said everything has to be made from scratch and teams get 20 minutes to set up and organize the station organized and ready to cook.
“For example, if you are making an aioli, you make the mayo from scratch,” she said. “You don’t bring in a tub of mayo and add stuff to it.”
Students are judged on safety, sanitation, teamwork, having everything prepared and in its place, cooking techniques, knife skills, plating, taste, degree of difficulty and cohesiveness of the menu and pricing.
At regionals, teams must earn 75% or above to make it to the state competition. Gregory said all teams from Nebraska made it to state.
The Milford team consists of Emma Hershberger, junior and team manager, and sophomores Gavin Pienning, Maizie Kolb, Veronkia Johns and Gwen Whistler.
“Our team is incredibly young this year, but you wouldn’t know it when they are competing,” Gregory said.
Gregory said she thought the team did well at regionals.
“It was their first time being a part of this environment and they held it together,” she said. “There were a few glitches and learning moments during regionals, but they successfully plated all components of their menu and the judge’s feedback was positive and encouraging. They are excited to make a few minor shifts in these next weeks of practice to come ready to compete at state.”
In order to get ready for the state competition, Gregory said the team will be doing a lot of practicing.
“This team knows how to hone in and practice to get better, but not once have they gotten upset at each other or walked out,” she said. “They surround themselves with laughter in the greatest times of stress.”
Gregory also mentioned one of the judges at the regional competition said teams that won competitions 10 years ago in ProStart would finish last now.
“He went on to explain that the work done each year in a school’s ProStart team keeps building the entry point for the future team coming in,” she said. “I really loved how he stated that because it shows how competing and committing to something beyond yourself for your school impacts the future of your school’s programs in such a dynamic way. I have seen this so many times and am so grateful for every student that takes the leap of faith to compete and get involved beyond the classroom walls.”
Gregory also said the support from Milford residents has been amazing.
“When our team was competing, it was packed full around the perimeter with parents and family of the students,” she said. “A teacher from another school jokingly told me, ‘My gosh, did you bring the town of Milford?’ I laughed and told her, in all honesty, this is Milford. Regardless of what event it is, families and the community show up to support the kids.”
