Imagine a delicious Italian meal and fine dining experience with excellent service. Soon, that will be an opportunity for all of the staff at the high school. Mr. Anderson’s Career Readiness class is working to create a higher-end restaurant that is owned and operated only by high school students. The restaurant will serve Italian-style meals and even a dessert option and has already seen major success from their Wolf Pack Cafe, which is available to staff and students on Friday mornings in the cafeteria.
Mrs. Dixon, Transition Alliance Program teacher, came up with the idea of a fine dining experience. She gained inspiration from her husband who teaches at Jefferson High School. His students come together to cook a meal for staff once a month. Dixon wanted to do something similar, and she thought that both students and staff would gain a lot from a similar concept here. Students can benefit in so many ways while learning valuable life skills such as counting money, customer service, being able to analyze costs, and knowing what to price the items as. Because this isn’t a topic in a regular classroom, this program could help kids gain skills that aren’t taught during an ordinary school day.
As previously mentioned, the menu will include Italian-style meals such as pasta, breadsticks, and one dessert item that has not yet been decided. They will also offer gluten-free items. If the students work in the kitchen, then they will learn skills such as measuring, following directions and recipes, and working as a team to complete orders. To help them research the type of experience they plan to offer, the group recently took a trip to Napoli’s Italian Restaurant, which is known for its higher-end dining. The students got to taste-test dishes and talk about what their favorite meals were. They also observed that dimmed lighting and tablecloths symbolize a fancier environment. The group plans to implement these factors into their restaurant to complete the experience.
Initially, this experience will only be offered to high school staff due to state guidelines on nutritional content served to students, making it not feasible to serve students at this time. The group is targeting an opening day the week before spring break. Reservations will need to be made in advance, and they plan to keep the price of the meal down. “We are not trying to make a profit. Our profit is being able to give kids real-life work experience,” said Dixon. The restaurant will be held in Mr. Anderson’s room to start, however, the group is willing to expand if their reservations exceed the space.
There have been a lot of new project-based learning opportunities added to the high school, and this concept will add to that diversity. As more details are finalized, be on the lookout for additional information in the school announcements. In the meantime, while the school waits for the restaurant’s debut, the group welcomes everyone to continue to support their Wolf Pack Cafe.
