Two H-D students earn high culinary certification

Two Hampton-Dumont graduates have earned an extra boost towards their culinary dreams.
Earlier this year, 2018 H-D grads Delilah Cavazos and Izabel Bidwell received the National Restaurant Association’s ProStart Certificate of Achievement – the first H-D students to do so.
Jane Hoegh, culinary instructor at H-D, said the certificate is anything but a piece of cake to achieve. Students must have first completed a year in ProStart, a high school culinary arts program that immerses students in the cooking and management fields of the restaurant industry.
Next, students must complete and pass a 100-question test then amass 400 hours of work experience in the food industry. The final piece is to have job-related observable skills outlined by a checklist. Skills include food and workplace safety, serving, handling of equipment and more.
After all requirements are satisfied, a student can call his or herself a COA holder. The certificate is far more than a piece of paper – it’s recognition that a student understands the intricacies of the restaurant industry and can be used to achieve college credits and better job placement.
Hoegh said for Cavazos, who will attend the culinary program at Des Moines Area Community College, will receive 11 credit hours for her achievement. Hoegh said that translates to about a $7,000 scholarship. Aside from credits, Cavazos said the certification gives her a distinct advantage in the workforce pool.
“This will give me one up,” Cavazos said. “I have these certificates that not everyone has and that gives me a big step ahead of everyone else.”
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