Watertown High School teacher Jolene Goeden-Massuch was honored as part of this year’s Salute to Excellence Awards, presented by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation (WRA EF). Each year, the WRA EF recognizes five individuals and one company who have made contributions to the future of the restaurant industry through their commitment to education.

The 2006 High School Educator award is given to Goeden-Massuch for her 35 years of dedication to the foodservice industry and her passion for teaching and helping others.

Goeden-Massuch has been the ProStart® educator and Culinary Team Advisor at Watertown High School since 2002. Each year her student team competes in the Wisconsin State ProStart® competition. The ProStart® program is an educational program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) that administers a nationwide system of high school restaurant and foodservice courses linked with mentored worksite experiences.

The Watertown High School culinary program has been greatly enhanced thanks to Goeden-Massuch’s efforts. She developed the Hospitality/Culinary Scholarship that each year gives $1,000 to one student to continue their education in the industry.

very year several students receive ProStart® Certificates of Achievement and four of her students have received National ProStart® Scholarships. Watertown Culinary students have also won first place in the state FCCLA Culinary STAR Events competition for the past two years and have represented Wisconsin in the competition three times. Goeden-Massuch also serves at the Hospitality School to Work Cooperative Coordinator and mentors students that cater banquets for local activities. This year Watertown High School was awarded a $22,000 grant to help develop a simulated coffee and bake shop at the school

Goeden-Massuch has been honored with several other awards in recent years. In 2003 she was awarded a Teacher Excellence Award. In 2006 she was honored with the Joseph and Sharon Darcey Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching and received the NRAEF Summer Institute scholarship in both 2005 and 2006.

Along with her involvement at school, Goeden-Massuch is also very involved in her community with several committees at her church. She is also a member of American Association of University Women, serves as a co-chair for women’s golf at her local country club and served as a judge for the state Sew it With Wool Competition.

Other 2006 Salute to Excellence honorees include Chef James Nowak (Hilton Milwaukee City Center), Jim Marks (Riversite Restaurant and River Lane Inn), Boelter Companies, Tom Boyle (Posthumus, Society Insurance) and Marita “Mic” Pietrykowski (Waukesha County Technical College). Each honoree has worked in a variety of roles to create opportunities for people interested in foodservice industry careers. They work in different parts of the state and in different professions, but they share an enthusiasm and optimism for the future of the restaurant industry.

The Salute to Excellence awards were presented at the 2006 Celebration of Excellence held on Sunday, October 15 at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva.

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Founded in 1987, the WRA Education Foundation is one of the largest state restaurant association foundations in the U.S. It strives to create a promising future for the foodservice industry by raising awareness of foodservice as a professional career path, providing ongoing training and education for foodservice professionals and serving as a state leader on food safety and sanitation.