HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- Tavien White has only been on the job for four months, but he knows what he likes most about it.
"Making people smile and making people happy for bringing their food to them," he said.
Welcome to "The Restaurant" at Lee-Davis High School.
The "Simply Serving" program is where students with special needs learn job skills necessary to work in the food service industry.
"I think it's important that they gain these skills," special education teacher Sally Sanders, "because they're not just skills they're going to use at Lee Davis. They're going to carry on throughout their lives with customer service like you've heard some of our guys say."
Guys like Javonte Jood.
He'd like to be a rapper one day, but for now, he's learning what it takes to be a good waiter.
"You get their drink first. Talk to them for a while. And then you get their order. Then you bring it to them."
"Simply Serving" has two purposes.
"We're serving our students as teachers because we're giving them the skills they'll need throughout their lives," Ms. Sanders said, "but we're also serving our teachers and making them feel appreciated as well."
Sally Sanders
The teachers order lunch from a local restaurant, the students seat them, bring them their orders, clean the tables, and process the payment.
It's given Tavien a dream to follow.
"I would probably open up my own restaurant one day, like a buffet or something like that."
Simply Serving is building skills... and that's Building Better Minds.
Building Better Minds with Rob Cardwell airs every Wednesday at 6 and 6 p.m. on CBS 6.
Building Better Minds with Rob Cardwell airs every Wednesday at 6 and 6 p.m. on CBS 6 and is sponsored by Virginia Family Dentistry.
