No. 14 Vol. 6
New View Media Group • 1-800-691-7549
March 27, 2018
Passaic County Tech Wins First And Second Place In Culinary And Management In Premier Competition
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By Cheryl Conway reparation mixed with seriousness has been the key ingredients when it comes to culinary arts at the Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne. For a dozen years now, the PCTI Culinary Team has won first place at the annual ProStart culinary state competition. Finishing just as strong, the PCTI Management Team has placed either first or second for the past 12 years. On Feb. 27, the students competed in New Jersey ProStart State Competition as part of the National ProStart Invitational. Held at the Culinary Conference Center at Hudson County Community College, seven teams competed throughout N.J. such as three from Essex County school systems, Paramus High School and Mercer County Technical School, says Ron Ossi, PCTI culi-
PCTI’s Management team members Carolan Terrero (Paterson), La’Dasia McClam (Paterson), Nicholas Buttacavoli (Hawthorne), Shania Medina (Prospect Park), and Riya Rana (Passaic) along with instructor advisor Celeste Zaleski, celebrate their second place win at the N.J. ProStart State competition.
nary arts instructor and ProStart advisor. The first place winner from each state level competition advances to compete at the finale, national competition scheduled for April 28-29 at the Providence Convention Center, R.I. NPSI is the country’s premier secondary school competition focused on restaurant management and culinary arts. Nearly 400 students compete in front of industry leaders, restaurant associations, family and friends in hopes to earn scholarships from the nation’s premier culinary and restaurant management programs, as well as network, according to the website. Composed of two distinct competitions – culinary and management –student competitors of the NPSI, showcase the most important skills of the restaurant and foodservice industry in front of judges from leading industry corporations, colleges and universities. In the finale next month, the top five teams from the culinary and management competitions will be awarded generous
educational scholarships to help further their careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. At the state competition this year, five students competed from the PCTI Culinary Team, made up of sophomores, juniors and seniors. Led by Ossi for the past three years, students in his hands-on course learn about preparation, hot/cold foods, sanitation, food safety, basic techniques and national health codes. For the ProStart culinary competition, students have 60 minutes to prepare an appetizer, entrée and dessert, without the use of electricity or running water. “Nothing is pre-prepared,” says Ossi. Students are judged on knife skills, sanitation, menu book and graded on execution, team management, communication skills and food they prepare. “They had to bring their own ingredients,” says Sandra Woods, PCTI director of Communications/Special Projects. Funds come from the school’s budget. continued on page 4