By David Vitrano
L’Observateur

RESERVE – The students at East St. John High have faced many hardships this school year so far, but a donation from the Louisiana Restaurant Association to the school’s ProStart program may help some of the students there feel a little more at home on their temporary campus at the former Leon Godchaux Junior High.

The ProStart program teaches students the basics of food preparation and introduces them to the intricacies of the restaurant business.

ESJ ProStart teacher Autrey Washington said the donation was coming just in time as her class prepared to move from theoretical learning to a more hands-on approach.

“Hands-on (learning) will enhance the theory we can teach,” said Washington, who noted the class’ benefits stretch far beyond simple food preparation.

“There are so many skills they learn during the process,” she said, noting how following a recipe can help students with both mathematical concepts and reading comprehension.

The donation came about through the combined effort of the Louisiana Restaurant Association as well as local restaurateurs, including Acme Oyster House COO Paul Rotner and Chef Duke LoCicero of Café Giovanni, and restaurant supply outfits. The more than $5,500 donation included a grill and refrigerator as well as pots, pans, knives and other utensils and storage containers.

“It’s basically everything you’re going to need to do a bare-bone operation,” said LRA Education Foundation Executive Director Alice Glenn.  

Added Washington, “Basically what we need now are the ovens and the kitchen itself.”

Glenn said that after LoCicero put together a proposal and brought it before the LRA Board, its members decided the cause was a worthy one and agreed to fund it.

“We had the money to be able to do it,” said Glenn, who added, “Had the funds not been available we would at least have found used equipment.”

East St. John Principal Patricia Triche positively beamed with excitement as she watched the school’s ProStart program receive the donation.

‘It’s a big part of student morale,” she said.

She said that while in years past such classes may have been viewed as a bit of lagniappe to the core classes, attitudes in Baton Rouge have changed as the powers that be have begun to place more value on programs aimed at career readiness, and few industries in the region have more potential for growth than the hospitality sector.

“It’s become a part of the high school,” she said.

East St. John currently has 46 ProStart students who, when they return from winter break, will have to start preparing for the statewide competition in March.

The ProStart program has been in operation since 1996 and is currently in 40 high schools across the state, including those in St. Charles and St. James parishes.