Winners & Highlights

Congratulations to all of the incredible ProStart student competitors for “igniting your passion” at this year’s National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore, Maryland. We applaud your hard work and dedication and thank the educators, parents, judges, volunteers, and our supporters for making NPSI 2024 the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s best NPSI ever.

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Below is our recap of the winning teams in Management and Culinary, video highlights, photos, and more highlights from this year’s event.

NPSI Recap Video

NPSI 2024 Award Winners

Out of a field of 48 Culinary Competition and 48 Restaurant Management Competition teams from across the nation, the following schools placed 1st to 5th in each category.

Photo of the students and educator of the NPSI 2024 2nd place Culinary team from Caesar Rodney High School, Camden, Del.

First Place – Culinary

Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
Educator: Terri Senn
Team Members: Melia Stamper, Carys Raber, Zoe Rowe, Ralph Figueroa, Shannon Powell

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 1st place Management team from Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, Calif.

First Place – Management

Orange County School of the Arts
Santa Ana, California
Educators: Paola Costa & Daniel Mattos
Team Members: Cynthia Zhou, Tira Smith, Emily Leo, Max Madsen

Photo of the students and educator of the NPSI 2024 2nd place Culinary team from Herndon Career Center, Raytown, Mo.

Second Place – Culinary

Herndon Career Center
Raytown, Missouri
Educator: Mike Chrostowski
Team Members: Ellyson Drake, Toby Nave’, Conner Rupard, Mariyah Voyles, Esmaria Heck

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 2nd place Management team from Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven, Conn.

Second Place – Management

Wilbur Cross High School
New Haven, Connecticut
Educator: Nathaniel Bradshaw
Team Members: Adam Sharqawe, Hassan Hussain, Maya Boyd, Ahilya Singh, Meet Patel

Photo of the students and educator of the NPSI 2024 3rd place Culinary team from Anderson Career and Technology Center, Williamston, S.C.

Third Place – Culinary

Anderson Career and Technology Center
Williamston, South Carolina
Educator: Chris Moree
Team Members: Isabella Downie, Ben Graham, Cooper Moore, Elizabeth Page, William Nelms

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 3rd place Management team from Elk River High School, Elk River, Minn.

Third Place – Management

Elk River High School
Elk River, Minnesota
Educators: Monique Sabby & Julie Herrity-Weidenborner
Team Members: Harrison Brandt, Sawyer Hahn, Lukas Larson, Cassius VanAvery Esquire, Kaila Swart

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 4th place Culinary team from Ben Barber Innovation Academy, Mansfield, Texas

Fourth Place – Culinary

Ben Barber Innovation Academy
Mansfield, Texas
Educator: David Roberson
Team Members: Mekhi Vaughn, Logan Vo, Sophia Li, Makayla Stephens, Eden Card

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 4th place Management team from Wando High School, Mt Pleasant, S.C.

Fourth Place – Management

Wando High School
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Educator: Molly Gordon
Team Members: Ramell Bagtas, Sarah Dzielinski, Cooper Stapleton

Photo of the students and educator of the NPSI 2024 5th place Culinary team from Normandy High School, Parma, Ohio

Fifth Place – Culinary

Normandy High School
Parma, Ohio
Educators: Iann Johnson & Christine Gibbons
Team Members: Samantha Beilstein, Abigail Basinger, Jordan Mitchell, Madison Headrick, Daniel Hoffman

Photo of the students and educators of the NPSI 2024 5th place Management team from Strawberry Crest High School, Dover, Florida

Fifth Place – Management

Strawberry Crest High School
Dover, Florida
Educator: Jeremy Walburn
Team Members: Katya King, Faye Lee, Sienna Smith, Caleigh Ross, Julianna Kelly

Paula Weeks of Coca-Cola, Sean Beard, Chair of the NRAEF Board of Trustees, Rob Gifford, President of NRAEF, and other attendees at the Coca-Cola Lounge ribbon cutting.

Sponsors on Their Support of NPSI

Onsite Activations at #NPSI2024

During this year’s NPSI, we partnered with sponsors and exhibitors to offer fun on-site activations for our ProStart students, educators, and other attendees who traveled to Baltimore, Maryland from across the country.

Onsite activations at NPSI included:

The Coca-Cola ProStart Lounge
Keynote and meet & greet with Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast Laurie Hernandez, thanks to The Coca-Cola Company
Live performance by country music artist Niko Moon, thanks to DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS
DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS Photo Booth
American Express Business Lounge
Kellanova’s Snack Wall
Rich’s Milkshake Bar
Professional headshot photos thanks to Rich’s
MARS Candy Station
NPSI merch store
Career & Education Expo with ProStart Scholarship schools and NPSI sponsors

See NPSI photos and videos below and on NRAEF’s social channels by searching the #NPSI2024 hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Photo of two representatives from the Culinary Institute of America standing behind their exhibit table at NPSI 2024

To order NPSI 2024 t-shirts and sweatshirts online, follow this link to the Eagle Sportz web store.

Order NPSI Merch!

NPSI Video Library

See all videos from NPSI 2024 on the playlist below

Photo Gallery

Get Your Company Involved

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Save The Date! #NPSI2025

In 2025, the National ProStart Invitational will be held May 2-5 in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront.

See you there!

Have Questions?

If you are an educator, mentor, chaperone, parent or school administrator, please contact your ProStart® State Coordinator with questions.

View ProStart Coordinators Page

If you are a judge, development guest, board member, exhibitor, post-secondary school, or SRA rep, please direct questions to your NRAEF contact or prostart@nraef.org.