North High students combine their culinary and business skills to run mock food trucks
ProStart Iowa has partnered with Sioux City community schools over the past few years to help more students find a passion in culinary arts and restaurant management. In the past, students have built model business plans for this class. However, this year, their classwork was far more hands on.
This is the first time students at North High are getting the opportunity to create their own food truck business plans, thanks to first-year teacher Kelsey Miller.
“It wasn’t really in the curriculum. The curriculum was more of a business plan, so I just turned it into the food truck races because it was a lot more fun for them to do. They really enjoyed it instead of just coming in here just doing a business plan every day, they were doing something they were actually going to put into work,” said Miller, a culinary arts instructor with ProStart.
Miller graduated from culinary school in Omaha. She recently returned to school to pursue a degree in teaching. Now, she is helping other students at North High find their passion for cooking.
“I love to cook. I was actually going to go into being a culinary teacher like Mrs. Miller. I have chosen another plan, but if it comes down to it I would love to be in culinary career,” senior Autumn Niebaum said.
Over 50 students worked in small groups throughout the semester to build their business plans.
“My daughter was in this class and it was awesome. She learned a ton. The teacher is wonderful; she has given her a lot of opportunities to try different things. This is super cool because I love food trucks and it’s they have gotten to decorate their own trucks. It’s very cute,” said Genevieve Gandy, a teacher at North High.
The students created the design for the trucks, menu items, and advertising campaigns to help promote their business.
On May 10, 2019 the students put their hard work into practice, serving food to their classmates and teachers. The culinary course gives experience to students to use outside of the classroom.
“My favorite part is I get to apply this in real life, you know? When I go to college, I get to cook and apply this into my life,” says Niebaum.