Schools

Teacher Honored for Helping Prepare Tomorrow's Food Service Leaders

Laura Calvert says the two-year ProStart program changes attitudes about the food service industry.

A news release:

Waukee High School teacher Laura Calvert has been named Iowa’s 2013 ProStart Educator of Excellence by the Iowa Restaurant Association Education Foundation. ProStart is a two-year high school curriculum program that unites the classroom and industry to develop tomorrow’s restaurant and food service leaders, and is currently taught in 18 Iowa high schools.

Waukee High School was the third Iowa school to implement the ProStart program. Calvert, a Waukee High School alumnus, began teaching the ProStart classes three years ago. The young teacher’s enthusiasm for her subject area paid dividends early.

In her first year, Waukee’s ProStart students won both the management and culinary portions of the Iowa ProStart competition and advanced to the National Invitational in Baltimore. As a one-time student of Waukee’s program, Laura sees firsthand how ProStart has evolved Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) in the state’s fastest growing school district.

“ProStart has shifted people’s perceptions of FCS,” said Calvert. “Parents, teachers and the community are now realizing the tremendous career potential a strong FCS curriculum offers students.”

May Schaben, executive director of the Iowa Restaurant Association Education Foundation said of Calvert, “Her willingness to embrace the belief that a change of approach in the FCS classroom can clearly lead to a fulfilling, profitable and lifelong career in the hospitality industry made Laura the ideal choice for this award.”

With their eyes once again on the ProStart state and national Invitational competitions, Calvert and her students raise funds by catering numerous events around the Des Moines area including the State Speech contest, Waukee Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Waukee Rotary events and Festival of Peace.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Waukee