Discover Your Potential with National High School BBQ Association (NHSBBQ)

The National High School BBQ Association® (NHSBBQA®) is a national educational organization dedicated to supporting school-based youth food sport and live-fire cooking programs through clearly defined knowledge frameworks, documentation standards, and applied learning models.

NHSBBQA® exists to help schools, educators, and communities use food, fire, and teamwork as instructional tools to support Career & Technical Education (CTE), workforce readiness, and student engagement—while preserving local control, district authority, and program flexibility.

The mission of the National High School BBQ Association® is to support applied learning through food-based instruction by documenting educational models, safety awareness practices, assessment frameworks, and program structures that schools may reference and adapt within their own policies.

NHSBBQA® focuses on:

• Hands-on, performance-based learning
   
• Career and technical skill development
   
• Teamwork, responsibility, and leadership
   
• Safe, supervised educational environments
   

Our mission is education-first and school-centered.

NHSBBQA® is CTSO-neutral.

This means:

• We do not replace, compete with, or duplicate existing Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs)
   
• We do not require affiliation with any CTSO
   
• We do not act as a governing body over CTSOs or school programs
   

Instead, NHSBBQA® provides supplemental educational frameworks that may be used:

• Within CTSO-aligned programs
   
• Alongside CTSO activities
   
• Or independently by districts and schools
   

Schools may integrate NHSBBQA® models in ways that best align with their local instructional goals, CTSO participation, and district policies.

NHSBBQA® is:

• A national reference organization
   
• A documentation and knowledge framework
   
• A support system for school-based applied learning
   
• A platform-aligned ecosystem (through tools such as PITMSTR) that supports verification, credentials, and renewal workflows
   

NHSBBQA® helps schools define, explain, and document what they are already doing in applied food-based learning environments.

To ensure clarity and trust, NHSBBQA® is not:

• A regulatory agency
   
• A licensure authority
   
• An accrediting body
   
• An insurance provider
   
• A replacement for CTSOs, athletics, or other student organizations
   

All instructional authority, supervision, and program approval remain with local school districts.

NHSBBQA® supports educational use of:

• Barbecue
   
• Grilling
   
• Dutch oven (cowboy cooking)
   
• Live-fire culinary methods
   

These methods are used as instructional vehicles, not ends in themselves.

The focus is on:

• Skill development
   
• Safety awareness
   
• Assessment and reflection
   
• Career exploration
   
• Team-based learning
   

NHSBBQA® operates on a simple principle:

National consistency in definitions and documentation, combined with local control in implementation.
 

Schools choose:

• How to integrate programs
   
• Which credentials or assessments to use
   
• How activities align with district policies and CTSOs
   

NHSBBQA® provides clarity and structure, not mandates.

NHSBBQA® supports:

• Middle school and high school programs
   
• Career & Technical Education (CTE) pathways
   
• Culinary arts and food science classrooms
   
• Agriculture, welding, and applied learning environments
   
• District administrators and instructional leaders
   

Our work is designed to be district-approval-safe and policy-aware.

NHSBBQA® is committed to:

• Educational integrity
   
• Safety awareness and supervision readiness
   
• CTSO neutrality and collaboration
   
• Respect for district authority
   
• Long-term sustainability of applied learning programs
   

The National High School BBQ Association® (NHSBBQA®) supports school-based applied learning through food sport education by providing neutral, district-respectful frameworks that complement—rather than replace—existing instructional programs and student organizations.