Confident Cooking: North Star, Southwest students create sharp dishes at state contest

March 14, 2025

Lincoln Public Schools students cooked full-course educational meals this winter by using the ingredients of hard work and perseverance at a state contest.
 
Culinary arts teams from North Star and Southwest tossed together successful results at the Nebraska ProStart Culinary Competition. Squads from across Nebraska traveled to The Career Academy to take part in an event that combined organization, creativity and cooking skills. North Star competed at the state contest for the first time in more than five years, and Southwest students returned to campus with a second-place trophy.
 
Michael Kosalka coordinates the Nebraska ProStart program and is an advisor to the Nebraska Hospitality Association. He has served as president of the Omaha-based Metropolitan Hospitality Association and taught business and culinary classes at the college level.
 
Kosalka said the Navigators and Silver Hawks learned a lot from competing in the Nebraska ProStart event. He felt everyone would take home a menu of lifelong skills from their experience.
 
“Yes, they gain great culinary knowledge and know how to create great food, but they learn so much more,” Kosalka said. “They learn team building and teamwork skills, they learn how to think fast on their feet, they become better thinkers, and they gain knowledge in the numbers side of the business from recipes to costing to menu layouts. What they learn and gain in personal growth and how to be confident and secure in themselves is even bigger than learning how to cook.”
 
ProStart activities have become a respected training ground for many culinary careers. More than 200,000 high school students in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the territories of Puerto Rico and Guam enter ProStart contests each year.
 
Kristin Vest coordinates curriculum materials for health sciences and family and consumer sciences (FCS) classes at LPS. She said LPS students in Culinary I, II and III classes are eligible to join after-school culinary clubs to prepare for ProStart activities.
 
Culinary teams must create and prepare a starter, entrée and dessert in front of professional judges from the food industry. In addition to evaluating the food quality, ProStart judges also rate each group’s organization, time management and food sanitation skills.
 
North Star team members created a shrimp ceviche for the beginning course. They plated the starter with lime-poached shrimp and paired it with cilantro, bell peppers, mango, avocado and shallots. The steak and risotto entrée consisted of a medium-rare steak with a creamy risotto based in chicken broth. It was served with a side of sauteed carrots and turnips.
 
The Navigators cooked a Crème de Anglaise for dessert. It was a sweet and light custard sauce blended in raspberry puree and garnished with mint.
 
North Star students Angela, Ethan, Isabel, Isaiah, Jaida, Nhi, Vicente, Alan and Audriana signed up for ProStart activities this year. Kosalka was happy to see the Navigators join the list of teams at the state contest. He said it highlighted how the school district is helping students thrive in many learning environments.
 
“It is very encouraging,” Kosalka said. “I love how LPS has a strong focus on areas like this.”
 
Southwest team members Mikayla, Sam, Prince, Madeline and Hailey smiled with their second-place award at the end of the day. Southwest FCS teacher Liz Griffith, who advises the culinary arts team, said all five Silver Hawks contributed to the successful showing.
 
Mikayla, who is in her third ProStart season, led the award-winning group. Griffith said she has provided both imagination and ingenuity in the kitchen.
 
“She has grown tremendously as a person in the time I’ve known her,” Griffith said. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to our team because she has had the experience of working in a professional kitchen where the students’ every move are scrupulously observed by the judges. She has such a creative mind when it comes to menu development.”
 
Madeline served as team manager for the group. She kept track of the entire 80-minute setup, cooking and cleanup process with a binder that contained timelines, recipes and notes. Griffith said she brings out the best in the entire team with her kind, friendly and fashionable disposition.
 
Sam worked with the team’s main dish. He hand-rolled fresh pasta and tossed it in a traditional carbonara with minced pancetta. The dish was served with a side of asparagus. Prince provided sharp food-cutting skills that he used to mince ingredients such as shallots and cherries, and Hailey helped produce both the team’s starter and dessert with her attention to detail.
 
The Silver Hawks created a burrata with balsamic cherries and pistachio pesto for the starter. It was served with honeycomb and crostini. Judges tasted a deconstructed tiramisu for dessert. It was layered with espresso and lady fingers.
 
Griffith said the Silver Hawks benefited from the help of Ty Goerke, who is executive chef of dining services at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Goerke recently relocated to Lincoln from Chicago and mentored the squad this season.
 
“He has so graciously donated his time, talents and supplies to our team,” Griffith said. “Additionally, he has been able to procure some hard-to-find and unique ingredients for the team.”
 
Kosalka said he would like to see the list of state culinary teams continue to expand in future Nebraska ProStart campaigns.
 
“The more kids that compete will only help those kids grow all around,” Kosalka said.
 
LPS offers a wide variety of family and consumer sciences courses for students. Visit home.lps.org/cte/fcs to check out details about the classes and learn how they can give students a full menu of lifelong skills.
 
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