Marion County Technical Center culinary students prep to represent W.Va. in national competition

Apr. 19—FAIRMONT — Ten minutes before the proverbial buzzer, something went wrong for Marion County Technical Center junior Kristina Jean Spender.

She had shrimp sizzling over a butane flame.

"Everything was going good," Abby Beveridge, senior, said. "Then the heat started gradually going down and we thought we were out of butane."

The first thought in Spender's head was, "dang." She called the judges for more butane, but to her dismay, the issue wasn't fuel for the stove. The burner itself was broken.

A statewide championship for culinary arts hung in the balance. There was a possibility the team would have to figure out what to do without the ability to heat food. Spender was ready to pivot with her polenta when the judges brought out a new burner. Seven minutes left.

ProStart competitions give competitors one hour to craft three courses — appetizer, main entrée and dessert. Each course requires two plates, which must be placed on a table in front of judges.

Kenzie Ammons, junior, was wrapping up her work on her own dish at the stoves.

Despite the stress from the setback, the team did not panic, getting to work like true professionals. Capitalizing on each moment, Ammons said everyone ran over to help Spender plate the shrimp and prepare it for presentation. The team rushed through plating the appetizer, main course and dessert as well. With only a few minutes left, the students dashed off to properly clean their workspace.

"We ended up rallying at the last second to pull everything through," Beveridge said. "Everybody did their part. We were super confident and I think we did it pretty well with all the downs we had. We ended picking it back up."

The effort, skill and expertise did not go unnoticed by the judges of the West Virginia ProStart Hospitality Cup. They awarded Marion County first place, making Maci Singleton, Beveridge, Ammons and Spender the first ever Marion County winners of the statewide culinary championship event.

"It was something I never really expected to do," Ammons said. "And, being the first time that the Marion County Tech Center has ever won the culinary competition — I just feel our team made history."

Each member of the team described winning as "surreal." The win also shocked their teacher, Chef Todd Stalnaker.

"He just sat there and he had no idea, like," Ammons said. "Everybody was astonished. There's no words to explain it. [Stalnaker's] mouth was agape and it just took him a second to move."

The statewide competition took place March 6. Since then, the team has spent its time preparing for the national ProStart championship in Baltimore, which runs April 26 through April 28. This is the final week they have to practice.

Judges gave the team a critique after the competition portion of the event ended. Since their win, the team has worked hard to tighten up those critiques and be better than before.

The competitions are like a high school version of Iron Chef.

"They have to mix everything by hand, cut everything by hand, and they have two camp stoves that they work with just butane fuel," Stalnaker said. "That's all they're given."

ProStart is a title for culinary arts and restaurant management, Stalnaker said. The competition is held by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Students learn both the cooking and management aspects of running a restaurant. It also lays a good foundation for students interested in cooking to move onto culinary school.

Stalnaker said they treat the class like a simulated workplace. Students learn how to work in both the front of the house and back of the house, or service and cooking sections of a restaurant. Students play different roles, such as kitchen manager, restaurant manager, inventory and safety manager.

Everybody's got a job, Stalnaker said.

While ProStart opens doors, another aspect is the inspiration it provides. Singleton, a junior, joined the class for fun after her friends convinced her to take it. But, it's been a life changing experience for her.

"I didn't know what I wanted to do," she said. "Now I'm thinking about going into culinary and business and seeing what I do from there."

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com