Taking Culinary Skills to the Real World and the World Cup
Jenn Turner’s room at Van Horn High School doesn’t look, feel, sound or smell like a traditional classroom. There’s an area in the front for lectures and activities with tables, but the real magic happens further back, where several cooking stations and a full industrial kitchen allow students to make delicious dishes while learning the business side of the culinary industry.
The ProStart® program is backed by the National Restaurant Association and offers the students of the Independence School District the opportunity to dive into the culinary field with half-day programming. The capstone class is open to juniors and seniors, who have to apply, interview and be accepted by Chef Turner through a tough process with only about 30 students accepted from across the district each year. Ideally, students get to spend two years in the program, but some only participate their senior year due to scheduling challenges.
“Other cooking classes use the more home economics style of kitchen setup, but we are really focused on the industry side of things and go beyond cooking into concepts like food costs and a variety of skills,” said Chef Turner. “We focus on real-world learning and do a lot of alumni and chef demonstrations, take field trips to restaurants and kitchens, and try to get to know the spectrum of this industry.”
Real World Learning. World Cup Cooking.
This dedication to going beyond the basics and connecting students with real-world experiences reached a new level in the summer of 2026. Thanks to her time in the restaurant industry and her connections with chefs all over the region, Chef Turner often gets calls from chefs with different opportunities. When Gabe Mejia, executive chef of the Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza, reached out with an opportunity to support an upcoming event, there was no hesitation.
“Chef Gabe and I had worked together a couple of times and he had met my students a couple of years ago to work on a project, but this time it wasn’t just a project, it was real people that we had to feed,” said Chef Turner.
Those people happened to be the Colombia National Football Team, who were in town competing in the World Cup the first weekend in July. The hotel’s staff would be down a few team members and Chef Mejia knew that he could depend on Chef Turner’s students to show up and step up to any challenge.
“Having known Chef Jenn for many years, I was confident that she and her students would exceed expectations,” said Chef Mejia.
Their involvement brought valuable support to our team while also giving the students an opportunity to learn and grow in a high-profile event environment, and this was an international partnership, they will never forget that they were included and were face-to-face interacting and cooking for the best soccer players in the world and they were part of the history when Kansas City hosted this impressive event.
Stepping in and Stepping Up.
Most high school students aren’t super excited about arriving somewhere before 6 a.m., but Truman High School senior Anthony Sherrow said those three days were more than worth it. He worked the morning shift from around 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day and said that, while the first day was pretty nerve racking, he quickly settled in.
“It took me a second to get acclimated to working with adults, speaking Spanish, and just getting used to the pace of the kitchen and the dining room,” said Sherrow. “The breakfast prep was really fast paced and it felt like everyone was working double time. We adapted quickly and I felt confident that this is where I belong and what I want to do.”
In addition to helping with prep in the back of the house, Anthony was able to work the omelet station, preparing custom-ordered dishes for players.
“What was especially memorable was how the students and players found creative ways to communicate using hand gestures and simple signs,” said Chef Mejia. “Although we had translators available, both the students and the team naturally chose to communicate through these gestures, creating authentic and enjoyable interactions. The players truly appreciated the connection, and the students gained a unique cultural and professional experience that they will never forget.”
By the third day, Sherrow got an additional opportunity to work directly with the head chef of the Colombian team on some special dishes and recipes. For most people, being handed a recipe card from a professional chef may be extremely intimidating, but both Chef Turner and Chef Mejia were impressed by the confidence and skill that this high school student showed under pressure.
“The team’s chef was super nice, and having him put his trust in me and take the time to work with me was so amazing,” said Sherrow. “I worked really hard to get into this capstone program and am excited to find ways to step up as a leader in the classroom this year. Chef Turner is definitely leaning on me to guide the new students as I look ahead to pursuing a degree and a career in the culinary industry.”
Madi Candillo is starting her senior year at William Chrisman High School and is one of those new students to the program. She got the email from Chef Turner about the opportunity at the Marriott without even having set foot in the ProStart kitchen, but of course, she decided to take part in the event.
Working the afternoon shift, she arrived at 10:30 a.m. and worked a variety of different stations to help the team, from toasting bread, cutting fruit, marking chicken, prepping chicken salad, and other little tasks to support the team. While she didn’t get to interact directly with the players, she did get to work alongside Chef Mejia and his team on several tasks that helped keep things running smoothly.
“I really didn’t know anything about working in a real kitchen so it was a learning process but everyone was so welcoming and helpful,” said Candillo. “Working at the hotel was cool and it’s very fast paced and you really have to be quick on your feet, but I could definitely see myself doing that as a career.”
Like Sherrow, she is preparing for a future in the industry, with plans to attend a school like Johnson County Community College to take part in their culinary program and work toward becoming a chef. While she has found her path, she tells other students to try a variety of different things and see what they might like.
“I tried lots of other things before really deciding that I wanted to pursue the culinary industry, even though I started my love of cooking at ten years old,” said Candillo. “The ProStart program is so great because we all really want to be here and it opens up so many opportunities and experiences. It’s definitely my favorite part of the school day!”
Cooking for Real People and Sometimes the GOAT
A recent Truman High School graduate, Arielle Ross, also got to participate in the event at the Marriott, with an extra FIFA-related experience kicked in over the summer. She wanted to get into the program her junior year, but she had some scheduling conflicts so ultimately completed one year in the ProStart kitchen with Chef Turner.
“I worked two shifts and did a lot of prep work making some chicken wings, skirt steak and other items,” said Ross. “There was a lot going on and everyone was working hard with nobody just standing around. They said they were really grateful to have us and we got paid so it was a really amazing experience.”
She graduated in 2026, and as part of her culinary program at Johnson County Community College, she started an internship during the month of June with Angel’s Tasty Treats Food Truck and Angel Harris. Through Angel, Arielle got connected with another KC baker, Jaresha Rhone, and Cake-a-Boo for a special project – baking a soccer legend’s birthday cake.
“We got to make Leo Messi’s cake and it was so cool,” Ross said. “I helped make the batter for the Dulce de Leche cake and baked parts of the cake.”
She might not have gotten to deliver the cake to the Argentinian captain, who is widely considered to be the greatest soccer player of all time, but she got to help Kansas City show a little hospitality to the special guests from around the world during the event.
“The community aspect of all of these events was so great, because it was just all of us coming together through the World Cup, and it really brought the city together,” said Ross.
Setting Students up for Career Success
Opportunities like the World Cup may not come up all that often, but Chef Turner is always on the lookout for ways to get her students real-world experience. For Chef Mejia, that means that he has someone to reach out to if he needs extra help from skilled and trusted students who are ready and willing to do what is needed.
“Programs like Independence Culinary are incredibly important, because it can be challenging to engage younger generations in hospitality careers,” said Chef Mejia. “By exposing students to these opportunities early, we can inspire them to pursue careers in hospitality and help ensure the future of an industry that depends on passionate, skilled and dedicated professionals.”
For Chef Turner, who has been a part of the industry in so many different ways, she is feeling comfortable in her role as teacher. Because the ProStart program is so career-focused, she knows that her students are ready to be pushed to take on real challenges.
“I felt so much teacher pride in watching students do so well,” said Turner.
I come from a family of educators and used to go into my sister’s classroom as an industry expert. With this program and this new kitchen, I knew it was a chance to give students the opportunity to get those skills and have the experience that I couldn’t get when I was in high school.