Food Truck comes to Byron High School

For 20 years Byron High School FACS Teacher, Ryan Radke, has been looking for innovative hands on learning experiences for his students.
Then one day while eating at a food truck he realized that it would be a good idea to one day have his students run one.
That idea will soon be a reality as Byron High School has been awarded a $45,000 Bush Foundation Grant to buy and to have it’s students run a fully operational food truck.
“The grant will support the creation of a self-sustaining business within Byron High School to provide students with authentic applied learning experiences in running and maintaining their own business. The food truck business will be a collaboration between the Business and Family and Consumer Science (FACS) departments and will give students an entrepreneurial and culinary experience in the food truck business,” a press release stated.
Although, some may think of a food truck as mainly being coursework geared towards culinary the staff at Byron High School decided to give their students a well rounded hands on learning approach as they will be learning how to run a business in every aspect.
“While the Business and FACS departments will oversee the food truck business, other departments have also indicated an interest in providing support. The Agricultural department has a greenhouse that we will be able to use to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. The Industrial Technology department will help maintain our equipment.  Several community members will donate time and money to help with this opportunity,” the press release stated.
Even though the teachers are still working out the details of how the food truck will operate some of the things they have in mind is moving the truck to different locations in Byron and surrounding towns. Another idea that they have is to use the greenhouse on campus to their advantage to grow as much of their own fruits and vegetables as they can.
Some of the other ideas they have is trying to have a farm to table set up where they are able to get local meat from local farmers as well as teach their students about how to use social media to promote their business and how to set up user friendly payment options for customers.
Aside from the business and culinary aspects of the food truck the goal is also to include other areas of academics to help make it a well rounded experience for the students involved.
“I’m beyond excited for our District, our students, and the people of Byron. It is going to be a great experience for everyone involved. I can’t wait to get started with fellow teacher Josh Benards as he will be working along with me on the business side. Also, we will include many other departments in this adventure including Agriculture, Art, and Industrial Technology. Thanks to all of those who’ve helped this ‘Dream’ become a reality,” Radke said in a press release.
One of the main goals of the food truck is also to have students be involved in a program that will help them learn about the real world and get real world experience.
 
“The School Design for Individualized Learning mission is in developing educational systems that help kids reach their full potential. Byron superintendent Dr. Joey Page believes that the idea aligns very well with Byron’s strategic priority of personalizing learning for all students in pursuit of their academic excellence,” a press release stated. “This idea has the potential not only to impact our students and our community but can be a prototype that can be used on a larger scale-within other departments, and especially school districts across rural America. Creating startup businesses not only provides students with real-world “résumé-ready” learning experience but could, long-term, lead to an increase in growth and economic development in rural communities. Students will be equipped with the design thinking methodologies and foundational knowledge of running their own business, and we desire to foster and grow our nation's next generation of entrepreneurs,” the press release went on to say.
Benards, echoed that testament by saying, “we’re trying to prepare kids for life after high school I don’t think there’s anything more relevant than teaching kids how to run a business,” he said.
Overall both teachers and everyone involved are excited to get the food truck started which is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2020.
Radke said that he hasn’t been more excited to teach in his 20 year career.
“I have been teaching for 20 years and I don’t know if I ever been more excited to teach,” Radke said.