Milton Hershey School Culinary Students Take First Place at Pennsylvania ProStart Competition

Several Milton Hershey School students recently tasted success at the 2025 Pennsylvania ProStart Invitational. The five students, Akinwole Akinfenwa, Ebunoluwa Fakiyesi, Alexandra Gonzalez, Onje’ Wallace, and Cheyenne Souden showcased their talents in State College, Pennsylvania, as they competed against students from across the state in February.

Together, they brought to life a plan to create the following menu inspired by the flavors of Pennsylvania:

• Appetizer: Beet and apple tartare with whipped ricotta and herbed crackers
• Entrée: Herbed-crusted venison loin with blackberry-port beurre rouge, Boursin-potato puree with sauteed mushrooms and chart, and saffron lace tuile
• Dessert: Sweetcorn tart with pretzel crust, salted maple sauce, and kettle corn

Junior Alexandra Gonzalez enrolled at MHS in ninth grade and knew immediately that she wanted to pursue the Culinary Arts/Restaurant Management area within the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Once she learned about ProStart, she knew she would have to work hard in her classes and do everything she needed to if she wanted to participate in the competition.

“I was very happy when I got on the team because I’ve been talking about it for two years,” she said. “When I got to the competition, I knew I was meant to be there.”

Senior Akinfenwa Akinwole has been set on competing in ProStart since his sophomore year, when he learned about the competition through his fundamentals of cooking class. He attended the team’s practices to watch and help clean up. He was there when the team won the state competition’s culinary and management categories in 2023.

Once the team was formed, the students tried close to 70 recipes, with weeks of research, as they developed their menu. They had to create a three-course meal that they could make within an hour without running water or electric stoves for judges from industry-leading businesses, colleges, and universities. In addition to cooking the multi-course meal, students must submit each recipe, menu pricing, recipe costing sheets, and a curated menu.

“You have to improvise and think of new ways to do things,” said Akinwole. “We could practice in our culinary rooms in the school, but it’s not the same as cooking within those confines.”

Akinwole hopes to use the skills and hands-on learning experiences from his time at MHS to pursue a degree in food science. From the school’s CTE curriculum in classrooms to internships, apprenticeships, and job shadowing, MHS students have unique opportunities to learn from professionals in their field of study and explore their passions.

The culinary team will compete in the national ProStart competition from May 2-4 in Baltimore, Maryland.