Worcester Technical High School Culinary Instructor Kim Youkstetter received the 2022 Entrepreneurship Honorable Mention Award from Kendall College National Louis University and the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education for her revenue-generation program tactics.

Youkstetter transformed a senior capstone culinary arts project and turned it into a revenue-generating community tasting event benefiting students.

The project began with seniors building their dream culinary businesses, which could have been anything such as a food truck, bakery, standalone restaurant, delivery service or personal chef operation. The project required students to create a menu, logo, business concept, and detailed information about the clientele. Students calculated the complete cost of a menu item as well as created marketing advertising materials. Before the 2021-22 school year, students turned in their completed papers and the capstone class concluded. However, this year Youkstetter added a student-created tasting event featuring the business concepts.

The culinary showcase featured each student preparing their business concept’s menu item to be tasted by the community. They also prepared displays of their dream businesses for attendees to learn about.  Parents, teachers and spectators were invited to attend for a nominal cost.

The generated money went toward a senior student graduation celebration. Additional funds were directed back to the program to purchase other necessary culinary items.