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Manhattan Educator Chef Michael Lynch Named
2010 ProStart Teacher of the Year

- Food and Finance High School Teacher Brings
Unique Vision to Inspire Students -

The New York State Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NYSRAEF) announced today that it has presented its annual ProStart Teacher of the Year Award to Chef Michael Lynch who has served as Teacher of the Culinary Arts in the New York City public school system for the past 18 years.

The Teacher of the Year Award is presented to a ProStart educator who has shown an outstanding connection with the students, with successful results in testing scores and participation in Educational Foundation events.

"Chef Lynch is a truly unique culinary and foodservice management instructor who inspires his students to achieve through his captivating teaching techniques and the passion he brings to all he does," said Ellen Hammond, the program's School to Career Director. "We are so proud to be honoring Michael for his hard work and vision."

Before his current position at Food and Finance High School in Manhattan, Chef Lynch worked for five years as a Chef Instructor in New York at The French Culinary Institute. A 1977 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Lynch has also worked in the Boca Raton Hotel & Club in Florida, and Lavins Restaurant and Manhattan Market Restaurant in New York City.

As a culinary arts teacher, Chef Lynch has used the unique approach of Aesthetic Realism as a teaching method working on the belief of American poet and educator Eli Siegel that the purpose of all education is "to like the world through knowing it," by seeing it's aesthetic structure.

Chef Lynch sees the teaching of culinary arts to young people as a challenge but also an obligation and a joy. This is validated by the number of students who participate in challenging internships, the number of students who have earned a Certificate of Achievement at Food & Finance High School and the level of respect that Chef Lynch has earned from his students, colleagues and his peers.

"With an exciting new generation of culinary and hospitality professionals being taught and cultivated by committed professionals like Chef Lynch, we all stand to benefit," said Hammond. "The quality and creativity they are bringing to the dining experience just keeps getting better."

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About the ProStart program

The year 2000 brought a partnership between NYSRA's Educational Foundation and the National Restaurant Association's national initiative, a School-to-Career program, called ProStart. The ProStart program operates in 47 states, in over 1,500 schools, involving approximately 55,000 students and well over 5,000 educators. In New York State the ProStart program presently operates in 57 schools, involving over 3600 students and well over 200 educators and introduces the student to a comprehensive hospitality industry program at the 11th and 12th grade level. The disciplined program includes the following components: mentoring, paid internships, promoting entrepreneurship, basic business skill development, nationally certified exams, scholarships, state and national competitions and post-secondary opportunities in the form of articulation agreements with culinary and hospitality programs throughout the U.S. with the purpose of generating qualified and capable professionals for today and the future while maintaining standards with limited resources.