Friday, March 26th I did not walk into our classroom, I walked into THE TACO SHACK. I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that my 18 first graders were learning about Mexico and restaurants. Well on that Friday we opened and operated The Taco Shack. Here is their restaurant through pictures...
We went to a local restaurant and they gave the students a tour of their restaurant. They told the students about their jobs and what is means to be a responsible employee. The students got to ask the employee's questions. One questions I remember is "How do they handle the restaurant when it gets busy?" Their answer was teamwork, by having to rely on each other. I love that we live in a community that is so open to helping educate our children. When we got back to class that day they received job applications where they choose three possible jobs they would like to have in our restaurant. They had to choose from these (host/hostess, drink waiter, waiter, cook, cashier, busser). After they submitted them I held interviews and discussed with them their strengths for certain jobs. They were so excited when I revealed the jobs positions...they sat and clapped for each other...haha! The weekend before our grand opening the other teachers who were also participating in the project took a trip to the closest SAM'S CLUB to get all the grub for the restaurant. Here is one of the shopping carts! Lots of stuff, right? It took three trunks to get it all home. The students enjoyed seeing all the food we had to purchase.
The last week we worked on decorations and how we were going to set up the room. They made big Mexican flags, colored little flags to make banners, moved furniture, told me where to hang the decorations. I think they really loved bossing me around...ha! Once the room was set up we got to work practicing our jobs. The students waited on me, each other, and high school peer counselors. They were ready when our first customer walked through the door. I cannot give them enough credit because I was so proud of the ownership they had for THEIR RESTAURANT. I literally hugged them twenty times before they went home that day!!
Making decorations
The beautiful bus girls at their station
Our first customer...the hosts doing a great job!
The kitchen running smoothly...we had the best cooks!
A student taking customers drink orders
The Drink Station and Chip and Salsa Workers
One of the Waiters stations (Drink Waiter and Food waiter worked as teams)
Our concept web of what we need to run a restaurant
Our room all set up ready for our grand opening
KWL Chart about Mexico
These pictures were in random order but you got to see a glimpse of the process we went through to prepare. At the end of the day we raised over 200 dollars that will be used for this project again next year. The following Monday we sat together on the carpet and the children got a chance to share what they loved about the restaurant and wouldn't change for the incoming first graders next year. Some reoccurring themes were their love for their jobs, being able to showcase the restaurant to their families, and working together as a team. Thanks to the other Mrs. Whitehurst for inviting our class to take on the project. It was a success and our local news station thought so too...check out the link below :)
*LRW*
