Education
High school eatery gets gold star
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
WAILUKU, Maui – With its large portions, inexpensive prices and flair for international cuisine, the Tropical Escape cafe was certainly a popular luncheon spot. But it lasted only two weeks.
Tiare Vida grabs some lettuce to make salads for the student-run restaurant at Baldwin High School in Wailuku. Students received real-world work experience in the program, which is a collaborative effort between several teachers, classes and local businesses. Jennine Pacheco worked as a waitress at the Tropical Escape, a student-run cafe at Baldwin High School. The menus that she's holding were created by a Baldwin business class. Timothy Hurley • The Honolulu Advertiser
Bad management?
Not at all.
The workplace readiness project is an annual two-week exercise at Baldwin High School that provides real-life food-service experience to a couple dozen students of varied backgrounds.
Participants include students enrolled in special education and regular classes and those for whom English is a second language.
For six weeks, the students came together under the direction of teacher Cindy Bennett to plan, prepare and operate the campus restaurant, acting as waiters, cooks, dishwashers, cashiers, hosts and bookkeepers.
"It was unbelievable how they all got together,'' Bennett said. "These kids were just awesome.''
Bennett, a special education workplace readiness teacher, conceived the project six years ago as a way to give her students a taste of the real-world demands of employment.
The Morning Espresso Cafe was the first student-run eatery to emerge, serving piping-hot coffee and mocha drinks, bagels and omelettes, with classroom delivery for Baldwin teachers.
"I love coffee shops, and I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to see what the kids could do,'' Bennett said.
Over the years, the restaurant theme has changed. Last year it was Cafe Oasis, offering healthful lunches with a salad bar and sandwiches. The year before it was A Touch of Africa.
"We got the kids into costumes. We went all-out,'' Bennett recalled.
This year's Tropical Escape whipped up a variety of salads for $4 and plate lunches for $5. The cafe featured Italian, Korean, Mexican, Chinese, American and Hawaiian cuisine, plus lots of delicious desserts.
"We kicked butt,'' said Tiare Vida, a 15-year-old sophomore who was a cook.
Not every student is accepted into the program. As in the real world, workers must apply for their jobs.
"In the interviews, we ask them questions like, 'Are you willing to give up lunch recess?' We want team players, and you have to have a good attitude,'' Bennett said.
Students are required to punch in and out on a time clock. Red slips are issued for missteps such as tardiness and wearing inappropriate clothing. Some have even been fired. In addition, students are required to fill out daily journals describing the skills they learned.
The project has expanded over the years, and a growing number of teachers are collaborating with Bennett.
Occupational skills teacher Arlene Hiyakumoto teaches the students how to sew their work clothes and trains the cashiers. Mel Nishimura teaches cooking. Merri Ifuku's business class designs the menus. English teacher Diane Nakoa (Bennett's sister) sends her students to the program. Maui District career and technical resource teacher Glenn Oura oversees the project.
The community also gets involved, with businesses such as Ali'i Linen Service providing table cloths, and Kahului Florist donating flowers for the tables and lei for the cashiers.
Over the two weeks, about 450 lunches were served and hundreds of dollars in tips collected by the student servers. The money was thrown into a pot and divided up at the end, with each student receiving between $15 and $50, depending on evaluations of their performance. Enough money was earned to put on a party.
Students said they learned that hard work can be fun, especially when you're part of a team working toward a goal.
Shanel Rawlin, a former Wai'anae High School student who recently transferred to Baldwin, said she used to cut classes at her former school, but this project helped to keep her interested.
"It's fun to work as a team,'' the 15-year-old said. "At the end of the day it was, 'Wow, we did it!' "
Sophomore Darrell Bio agreed: "This kept me coming to school. It kept me motivated. There were times when I wanted to stay home, but I knew that if I missed one day I would mess up the others. I was tired, but it was fun.''
"The best part was that we would come in here with a big smile and walk out with a big smile,'' said Mele Sunia, a senior.
