WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A class project for sixth graders at G.A.R. Middle School in Wilkes-Barre turned into a friendly competition to see who could design the best food truck.
"I like designing; I like putting things in their places like tables and appliances," said sixth grader Galvin Kouevi.
Their teachers say the students had to use math, art, and business lessons to bring a design for a food truck alive while also coming up with a menu.
"Then find out the price of it, how much it would cost to buy the products and apply that application to add profit and incorporate inflation into it," said G.A.R. teacher Maria Dutt Hillard.
The reward was a field trip to TGI Fridays restaurant on Kidder Street, where they learned from managers and staff about the ins and outs of running a real restaurant.
Rick Sell, the vice president of operations, says their project is a lot like what goes into day-to-day operations.
"I think the scope of the project was very thought-provoking. The students really had to think about how they were going to design their business," said Sell.
Students tell Newswatch 16 that while it was fun to create their own business model, they ran into some challenges.
"Definitely finding the unit rate and the prices that we were going to use for the items," said Emmanuel Acero.
"It was kind of hard to mix it all together, but not at the same time. We got the hang of it, and it was fun to experiment with it," explained Haydee Hernandez.
"Teamwork is a big part of the project, and if you don't work together, it can be super hard," said Kylie Kocher.
Staff at TGI Fridays hope the experience will inspire students to pursue careers in the hospitality field.
"I shared my story; José shared his story. It was our first job in the hospitality industry, and it's led to a career and passion for us," said Sell.