Congratulations to Wilbur Cross Culinary Educator Nathaniel Bradshaw for being named Connecticut's 2023 ProStart Educator of Excellence. 

Chef Bradshaw has been a ProStart educator for over 10 years. Bradshaw says, "I love teaching culinary. Cooking and working in the kitchen brings me so much joy and I look forward to every day bringing my joy and knowledge of what I love to my students. Helping students learn new skills that can help them be self-sufficient in life after high school is important to me."

After COVID, he has seen so many of his students struggle socially. He feels his class is a great way for students to come out of their shell. "I create lessons to help put more labs where the students can move around in the kitchen or create situations where they must work with each other. The message I try to send is that it's more important to work with each other and to be part of a team than to be alone and isolated," says Bradshaw. 

Each year, the Connecticut Hospitality Educational Foundation is able to recognize one ProStart Educator as Connecticut's Educator of Excellence. The honor comes with recognition on at the National ProStart Invitational Awards Dinner and a trip to the ProStart Educational Professional Development. This year the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) offered a week long seminar in Dallas, TX exclusively for ProStart Educators across the country. During that time, the Educators of Excellence were also recognized in front of their peers and mentors for their hard work and dedication.