Thirteen teams of students from eight high schools will compete tomorrow in Mitchell in the 5th annual South Dakota ProStart Competition. The competition tests the students on culinary and business management knowledge and skills. Shawn Lyons, Executive Director of the state Retailers Association, explains what the ProStart program entails.
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/03/prostart-lyons.mp3|titles=prostart-lyons]Lyons says the program blends classroom learning and mentored on-the-job experience.
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/03/prostart-lyons2.mp3|titles=prostart-lyons2]As far as tomorrow’s competition, Lyons says that the first things teams will do is compete in the culinary portion of the ProStart event.
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/03/prostart-lyons3.mp3|titles=prostart-lyons3]After the culinary portion, then teams will compete head-to-head in the business management part of the competition.
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/03/prostart-lyons4.mp3|titles=prostart-lyons4]The two winning teams will go on to compete in the national competition in Baltimore next month. Along with Madison, the remaining teams competing tomorrow come from Brookings, Huron, Lake Area Multi District, McIntosh, Mitchell, Sioux Falls C-T-E Academy, and Sturgis. Only 15 schools in the state provide the ProStart program. Tomorrow’s ProStart Competition will be held at the south campus of Mitchell Technical Institute, starting at 9:00 a.m. The competition is free and open to the public.
(courtesy KJAM Madison)