Rocket Fuel
SLIPPERY ROCK — Blasting through the hall at a safe speed, the Rocket Fuel cart moved from room to room at the Slippery Rock Area Elementary School Friday morning.
According to school Principal Kristen Czubiak, a ticket hanging from a teacher's door lets the cart's crew know they've been requested.
“I am thrilled that they brought this to our elementary school,” Czubiak said. “I think it's a good opportunity for them to serve their community.”
Third-grader and salesperson Izabella Gaston knocked on the door.
“Rocket Fuel delivery,” she said into the teacher's room.
This time, they left the cart in the hallways, manned by kindergartener and driver Jeric Stahlman.
Teacher Kurt Ligo asked Izabella about the different products for sale.
Popcorn, crackers and Chex mix were on the menu. They also sold water and teas.
“Do you have any low-calorie tea?” Ligo asked.
Izabella searched and helped Ligo with his request.
Finding the right snack and drink, the teacher paid third-grader and cashier Wyatt Dlugolenski, who accepted the payment and counted out Ligo's change.
“You did very well,” Ligo said. “Thank you.”
Later that morning, teacher Jill Takach invited the cart into her room full of third-graders, where she purchased tea and a snack.
Wyatt gave her back $3 because everything on the cart is priced at $1.
Takach gave $1 back to Wyatt and asked for change in quarters.
Wyatt obliged.
Takach handed each of the workers a quarter.
“A tip,” she said with a smile.
As they left Takach's room for the next, one of the two teachers leading the cart, Olivia Vanderzee, told the children about what tips represent for employees.
“If you're a waiter or a waitress, if you do a good job, sometimes they'll leave you a tip,” she told them.
The cart made many stops last week, which was the fourth week of the program
Vanderzee and fellow teacher Kate Miller lead the program. Both are learning support teachers at the school.Vanderzee wrote the application for the grant that purchased the cart and its startup needs.“The students that work on the cart are in my classroom, the emotional support classroom and also the autistic support classroom,” she said.Miller said the program teaches the students valuable social skills in a workplace-like setting.The cart's staff needed to say “please” and “thank you.” They needed to be polite while dealing with money. The students also had to knock on each door sporting a ticket.Miller said the children are also asked to count back the money if they are the cashier and tell the teachers their total before finishing the transactions.“They get so excited to do this,” Miller said. “They take it seriously too, like a job.”Wyatt said he likes the program because Vanderzee is one of his favorite teachers.“I also like being the driver because I once got that whole entire cart into the elevator all by myself,” he said.Jeric kept his license last week.If a driver crashes the cart, they lose their license, which teaches the students about responsibility and consequences.“I like being the driver because you can just walk to the classrooms,” Jeric said.Izabella had a way with words, speaking and detailing the products in room after room.“I like being the server because people say thank you and stuff. I like being polite and giving people food and helping out,” Izabella said.The two teachers are hoping to grow the program with an eye at introducing technology into the program for their older students.Miller said she would like to possibly use Google forms or something similar to add online ordering.“Kids can look at a screen, see what order they need to fill and be able to deliver,” Miller said. “It's just adding some more jobs, so that we can have more kids working on the schedule at different aspects and learning new jobs.”
