School transformed into restaurant
Jean Marie River students open up the Lynx Cafe as part of school project
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 14, 2015
TTHEK'EHDELI/JEAN MARIE RIVER
Louie Norwegian School was transformed into a fine dining destination for an afternoon when students opened up the Lynx Cafe as part of a restaurant project.
Martin Antoine smiles on the job while playing chef at Louie Norwegian School in Jean Marie River. - photo courtesy of Louie Norwegian School
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Students from grade one to eight, playing roles from cook to host and waiter, treated 22 community members to a full meal.
"I noticed the kids really enjoy playing kitchen with the play toys we have and I thought it would be exciting for them to maybe actually do a real restaurant for their parents and community members," said teacher Brooke Suwala about the idea's origin.
Suwala helped students prepare a menu of caesar salad, chicken noodle soup, shepherd's pie, lasagna and apple crumble.
Some of the women in town volunteered to help out and made fresh bread to go with the meal.
In preparation for the restaurant's grand opening, the children made posters and decorated the school.
"It looked like a real restaurant," said Suwala.
Students set the tables and practised beforehand how to address people, take orders and make sure customers are happy.
"It was tiring," admitted Grade 8 student Zaida Sanguez, who thinks she might like to be a restaurant host one day.
Suwala said it was an eye-opening experience for students to learn that real work is hard.
"After 40 minutes, they're like, 'I'm tired,' and I'm like, 'Well that's what having a job is,'" said Suwala.
"It was good for them to see."
She was impressed with how seriously students took the endeavour and how excited they were to show community members that it was a real restaurant.
"I think they were successful in that because all the community members who came were real pleased with their experience," said Suwala.
Students were a bit shy to serve customers at the start, she said.
"They were nervous, but once they got prodded, they got right into it," said Suwala.
"I had six-year-olds acting as hosts and servers and they did a really good job."
Following the success of the event, Suwala said the Lynx Cafe might become a yearly occurrence.
Suwala said it's important to give students these kind of experiences.
"At the end of the night we all sat down and ate together and I could see how proud the kids were that they'd done a good job," she said.
