Lakota West Freshman Students Shine in Cross-Curricular Food Truck Rally

At Lakota’s West Freshman school, cross collaboration has united five diverse curricula: career and college readiness (CCR), culinary arts, content creation, fine arts and engineering design. This innovative initiative, led by Corri Hernandez, the school’s family consumer science teacher through Butler Tech, has transformed the building into a bustling hub of entrepreneurial activity.

Inspired by a similar project Hernandez conducted in Kansas, she brought the idea to West Freshman with enthusiastic support from the administration. "Students aren’t able to go out and get business experience, so we brought it into the school," Hernandez explained. "I think it’s really important to have authentic learning opportunities. (The students are) super engaged."

The adventure began with Hernandez's CCR class studying entrepreneurship. Michael Burns, owner of Burns Barbell, kicked off the project with an inspiring talk, urging the ninth graders to pursue their passions in business. Students reviewed one another’s "draft cards," which highlighted their strengths, to build their project groups. Once formed, each group member selected their role such as CEO or marketing manager, forming teams ready to take on the challenge. The groups then began creating business plans and vision boards for their dessert food trucks. 

With business plans and vision boards in hand, the collaboration expanded to include four additional classes, 174 students in all. "The CCR students ‘contracted’ out the work they could not do to the other classes," Hernandez noted. "This is a key component of being a business owner." 

The first stop was developing their product. The teams turned to Hernadez’s culinary arts class for guidance. The  students whipped up 22 delectable recipes, gathering feedback from the CCR groups to determine the different food trucks’ offerings.

Next, the Butler Tech content creation class at West’s main campus designed eye-catching menus for the food trucks. After explaining the project to his class, teacher Erik Nett relayed questions his students had for the groups to Hernandez. “We determined that a requirements sheet from each ‘client’ (was needed) for each design.” Using this information gathered from the CCR class, “the individual (design) teams had creative freedom and used the skills and techniques they’ve learned throughout the year to design their menu,” explained Nett.

The engineering design class, also offered through Butler Tech at West Freshman, then crafted impressive food truck facades to attach to folding tables, creating an authentic food truck rally atmosphere for potential "investors" to sample the offerings. Teacher Scott Fetzer modified a school bus design he used at a previous district for the food trucks. "The students gave input on the design and assisted me in drawing the first food truck on a sheet of 4’x8’ plywood." While Fetzer handled most of the cutting for safety, students were able to use hand jigsaws for corner and curve cuts. Fetzer’s students brainstormed ways to attach the cut-outs to folding tables efficiently and safely for the food truck rally. "Anytime my students get to be involved in a project at the school, it’s exciting for them. It always amazes me how many kids want to help out. They really enjoy designing and building things that are new,” said Fetzer.

While Fetzer’s students were cutting the facades, Matt Gronas’ art students reviewed the vision boards and designed vibrant sketches for the trucks, with CCR students providing feedback. "I thought it would be a good experience for the kids designing, drawing and painting something that could be a real-life experience,” explained Gronas. “Who knows, one of these kids could design and paint trucks for a job in the future. I also thought it would be neat for the kids to work with other subject areas to make something really cool." 

On the day of the rally, invited guests experienced a "Shark Tank" style presentation from each of the eight different groups, followed by sampling items from the trucks. "It takes a village to educate our children,” Hernandez said. “That’s why we invited parents, administrators and others to come here today. Anything you see here today was designed by the students. They worked together to overcome obstacles to get their business off the ground.” She continued, "I’m excited about the future based on what I see in the classroom. It’s been fun to see their strengths emerge."

"There was a lot of teamwork involved in the designing, drawing and painting of the trucks,” said Gronas. “It was a lot of work but the kids loved doing it and felt they turned out great.”

Katelin Chau, who worked on the truck designs in her art class agrees. "I think this was a really fun experience. My art teacher helped us through the process."

Emily Baker, part of the “Trippy Treats” food truck, took CCR to learn more about different careers. “This really did help me to see what it would be like to be an entrepreneur.” She also learned to use her excitement to overcome her nerves about presenting in front of such a large audience.

“This is real world,” said Nett. “This is how it works in real life outside of academia.  Different people, different groups, different backgrounds and even different capabilities. All coming together to make a desired outcome occur.” 

CCR student Alexie Way from the ice cream-themed food truck “Scoopz on Wheelz!” shared, "I’ve enjoyed putting this project together. The biggest takeaway for me has been leadership skills.”

“I feel so blessed to be a part of these kids' lives and making them realize they can do about anything they put their mind to,” said Nett. “Lakota and Butler Tech make an amazing team and provide an environment where students thrive.”

This inaugural food truck rally has not only provided students with invaluable business experience but has also fostered creativity, teamwork and leadership skills. "The biggest joy is seeing the students thrive," Hernandez said. "Just seeing their growth as they completed the project overwhelms my heart with joy. They’re just incredible."