Congratulations to five students from the Culinary Arts & Restaurant Management program at Central Campus who were crowned state champions in the management portion of the 2019 Iowa ProStart® Invitational on Tuesday. The Iowa Restaurant Association Education Foundation hosted the competition at the Iowa Events Center.

The team will represent Iowa in Washington D.C., on May 8-10, competing against teams from across the country for the national title and college scholarships.

Teams were challenged to create an original restaurant concept. They wrote business proposals and pitched them to a panel of restaurant industry professionals who were roleplaying as potential investors and judged their concepts, teamwork, presentation skills and critical thinking abilities.

Team members are Tommy Branstad Phillips, Andrew Klein, Joshua Thompson, Maxwell Dixon and Magdalyn Back. Their instructor is Monica Wilson Cross.