This session explores how to shift from complaining about labor shortages to actively recruiting from local, "Thinking Classroom" CTE programs. It highlights the shift toward debt-free, high-skill careers in culinary arts, reframing the restaurant industry as a top career choice. Takeaway 1: Understand how modern CTE programs, like ProStart, focus on real-time problem-solving and collaboration, equipping students for the high-pressure environment of a restaurant. Takeaway 2: Learn to abandon the "negative" industry narrative and instead promote the high-growth, high-freedom potential of a hospitality career to attract younger workers. Takeaway 3: Actively bridge the gap between classroom and kitchen by acting on the "be curious" advice: connecting with local CTE directors, hosting apprenticeships, and becoming a guest speaker. Takeaway 4: Use data regarding rising wages and zero student debt to demonstrate that the culinary trades are a more viable financial path than many traditional four-year degrees