EVENTS
Educate and Elevate:
A Season of Growth for Alaska ProStart
By Chef Rebecca Giedosh-Ruge, Alaska ProStart Director
This fall, Alaska ProStart has been busy strengthening culinary classrooms, elevating educators, and connecting students with Alaska’ s hospitality industry. From university labs in Fairbanks to crepe pans in North Pole and cake turntables in Anchorage, the season has been full of hands-on learning rooted in Alaska ingredients and Alaska innovation.
Classroom Visits Across Alaska
Mushroom-Focused Educator PD at UAF
On September 13, Alaska ProStart educators gathered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for a professional development day centered entirely on mushrooms— our statewide learning theme for the year.
Matt Meares of Boreal Woods Mushroom Farm led educators through mushroom cultivation, substrate creation, and ways to partner with their school’ s biology department to grow mushrooms directly in their culinary labs. Each educator left with substrate blocks to bring back to their schools, giving students the chance to learn the full growing process.
The day also featured culinary inspiration from local chefs:
• Chef George Easter of Latitude 65 showcased mushrooms as a full protein replacement.
• Chef Sean Walklin created a deeply umami pasta featuring mushrooms in every layer.
This fall marked the start of a more intensive schedule of classroom visits led by Chef Rebecca Giedosh-Ruge. These visits build deeper relationships with schools, help educators grow their programs, and allow students to connect directly with the statewide ProStart network.
Visits included:
• Juneau-Douglas High School, with Chef Chris Heidemann
• King Tech High School, with Chef Rees Miller
• North Pole High School, with Chef Max Pananen
Each visit centered on program support, skill development, and strengthening regional culinary communities.
• Chef Ben Pratte fired up UAF’ s outdoor pizza oven and had educators tossing dough and building mushroom-forward pizzas.
It was a rare opportunity to connect science, sourcing, technique, and flavor— all through a single local ingredient.
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