Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, December 03, 2009

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Students at MLK Academy host the King Cafe in their school library about once a month.

China and tablecloths combine with seasonal decorations and background music to become tools of learning at Martin Luther King Jr. Academy when students and staff transform the school library into the King Café.

About once a month, the tiny “boutique” restaurant serves as a lunch getaway for FCPS teachers, district staff and community guests after students pick a theme and set the table for company.

“You get to see a lot of the teachers in a different environment, out of the classroom,” said sophomore Sarah Howard, who has worked in the café twice this fall.

King Café, which is organized by Youth Services Center coordinator Debbie Sauber, gives the teenagers a chance to practice job skills and people skills, too.

Students greet their restaurant guests at the door and seat them, handing out laminated menus with that day’s choices: an entrée, two sides and a drink for $3.50. The food is prepared by the cafeteria staff as usual; the teens take orders, carry plates to patrons and refill drinks. They also bus the tables and divide the tips.

Helen White, a cafeteria floater who works mostly at Bryan Station High School, helps regularly at the café. From her vantage point, a manners lesson is one of the main benefits for the kids.

“For one thing, they’ll learn how to say ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir,’” she said with a knowing nod. “And it’s a good learning experience for them if they ever get a job in a restaurant.”

Not just everyone can sign up, though. Sauber picks six to eight students each month based on their academic performance and attendance record. “It’s an incentive to be there and do their work,” she said, adding, “They’re at my door” – eager to participate.

“It gives us something to do besides classwork that’s educational,” Sarah said. “It’s going to help us with our future. It pretty much teaches us what we’ll need to know one day.”

Freshman Gus Anderson was also chosen for the October and November cafés.

“We can get out of class and do something to help us with our attitudes,” he said. “It teaches us to keep our anger down when customers get on your nerves.”

Sarah agreed, noting, “You have to have patience to wait on people.”

Sauber views the patience component as a teaching moment, so she always “plants” a difficult patron to bring the wait staff some grief.

“If you never give them an opportunity to try, they don’t know if they can handle it or not,” she said. “You’ve got to learn how to handle it.”

Other staffers at MLK Academy also pitch in for King Café – training the students in how to assist customers, assembling the decorations and stressing workplace essentials such as punctuality. The school librarian does her part by serving as the café’s cashier.

Support comes from outside the school as well. Many folks who work at Eastside Technical Center next door and at It’s About Kids Support Services downtown ate at the last café, on Nov. 19, when about 65 people came for the pre-Thanksgiving meal.

Sherry Price, who works in Financial Services at the district office, is one of the regulars.

“I go almost every single time. I think they need the positive reinforcement from adults, and not necessarily teachers,” she said. “I always feel good knowing there’s been positive interaction between me and the kids.”