Marathon High culinary instructor earns lifetime achievement award at ROSE Awards

Marathon High School’s culinary program has spent 14 years sending trained cooks into Keys restaurants, hotels and catering jobs, and Carl “Chef Flavor” Stanton’s surprise lifetime achievement honor at Hawks Cay Resort put that work in the spotlight.

At the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association’s 4th Annual Monroe Recognition of Service Excellence Awards on April 16, Stanton thought he had been there only to help plate dessert. Instead, FRLA regional director Lynne Hernandez called him to the podium and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing more than four and a half decades in the culinary industry.

The ROSE Awards honor Monroe County frontline hospitality employees for excellent customer service, but Stanton’s recognition also read like a workforce story for the Florida Keys. His students at Marathon High cater roughly 30 local events each year, and the school has held premier ProStart status for eight straight years, one of only 13 premier culinary programs in Florida out of 220 total programs.

Stanton’s path began at T.C. Williams High School under instructor John Dorney. He later studied Restaurant and Hospitality Management at the University of Maryland, worked in hotels around the Washington, D.C. area, became a partner in Fleming’s Steakhouse and launched Chef Flavor Catering in Maryland before moving to the Keys. A wine dinner connection led to a teaching opportunity at Marathon High School, where he has now led the culinary program for 14 years.

The program has become a fixture on the school campus and in the community. It turned 15 on April 11, 2025, with current and former students gathering at the Dolphin Bistro, and the FRLA Educational Foundation later awarded the program a $50,000 kitchen remodel grant in November 2023 to replace equipment damaged during Hurricane Irma and help students prepare for competitions and jobs.

That investment carried weight in a county where hospitality is a core part of the local economy. ProStart, the industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management curriculum tied to Marathon High, reaches more than 222,000 students in 2,200 schools nationwide and has served more than 1 million students over 27 years. In Monroe County, Stanton’s classroom has become a direct pipeline to the restaurants, resorts and banquet halls that depend on steady, trained staff.

Stanton has also been honored as ProStart Teacher of the Year and has received Beginning Teacher of the Year, Inclusion Teacher of the Year and Teacher of the Year awards. His surprise recognition at Hawks Cay was more than a personal milestone. It marked the reach of a Marathon classroom that has shaped the local hospitality workforce for years and continues to do so.