Fourth Year With Gold! CTEC Culinary Arts Team Tops NYS Prostart Competition Again

For the fourth year in a row, the Rockland BOCES Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) Culinary Arts team has claimed top honors at the prestigious New York State Restaurant Association’s ProStart Invitational. The competition, held at The Culinary Institute of America, showcased the talents of high school students from across the state in restaurant management, menu planning, and culinary execution.

Representing Rockland BOCES were Sophia Kirwin (Nyack Public Schools), Alissha Tavarez-Duran (East Ramapo Central School District) and David Suchite (Clarkstown Central School District), who impressed judges with their innovative restaurant concept and culinary expertise. Their victory secures them a spot in the national ProStart competition in Baltimore later this year.

ProStart, a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, is New York’s premier high school competition dedicated to fostering the next generation of culinary and restaurant management professionals. It provides students with real-world experience and the opportunity to demonstrate skills highly valued in the hospitality industry.

The team’s success would not have been possible without the dedication of Culinary Arts instructors Bridget Tat and Dylan Perez, Academic Support Teacher Anne Marie Lynch and Advisor Christian Papa, who provided invaluable mentorship throughout the competition.

Congratulations to our Culinary Arts champions—best of luck at nationals!