The Senior High was transformed into Flavortown yesterday as students in the Family and Consumer Science department collaborated for one of their biggest–and most-looked-forward-to–projects of the semester: their Food Truck competition. To prepare for the project, students enrolled in nutrition, fashion design and interior design courses collaborate to come up with a food truck concept that includes a menu, start-up costs, as well as uniform and truck designs. The competition culminates as students prepare a selection of items from their menus; a scaled-down, decorated model of their truck; and a finished binder with their uniforms, research, menus and recipes. Staff members are then invited to the classroom to taste the inventive creations as they and students serve as judges to determine which truck offered the best presentation, menu, individual dish, as well as the one the food truck they’d be most likely to visit.
In yesterday’s period 3/4, the competition heated up as Los Loncheras, featuring Latin-American fare; the Loaded GOAT, featuring loaded fries; Sizzle Bus, featuring breakfast favorites; and Flamin’ Chicken, featuring buffalo-style chicken and sides went head to head “Food Network” style as they prepared dishes from their menus to the assembled judges who carefully noted the quality, presentation and taste of each dish. Following a round of intense voting, Alena Dinnini, Mackenzie Mentzer, Teagan Marturano and Marley Weller's Flamin’ Chicken team smoked their competition as they were overwhelmingly chosen as the best overall truck with their spicy chicken dishes and polished menu, logo and food truck design.
The annual competition is a favorite of students in the Family and Consumer Sciences department while offering them a rare chance to work collaboratively with those in other classes. It also offers a rich, off-the-hook learning opportunity as students consider the business, legal, financial and health aspects of creating, opening and operating a real-world food truck.