ProStart is a high school program sponsored by the National Restaurant Association (and affiliated sponsors) to help train students interested in entering the culinary world. Its participants often go on to further training at schools such as Johnson & Wales University, the Culinary Institute of America, and Le Cordon Bleu, using some of the $1.4 million is scholarship money available to ProStart graduates. Megan Meyer, Marketing & Communications manager for the NRA told us the program gives students the chance to really work in the industry before they commit to years of training–and that it also helps people discover their hidden talents. “Some come into the class because they like to cook,” she says, “and end up discovering it can be a career!”

In this video, we talk with Jane Dukes, head of Culinary Education at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, CA, whose students won the national ProStart competition in 2011.