The Triple Win Food Truck held its grand opening in Waco, Texas, on Friday, serving up burgers and training high school students who are interested in becoming restaurant entrepreneurs.
"Soft opening was good. It's still here, it didn't burn down, so that was step one, that was good. But we learned the processes on the food truck, who's packaging them, who's serving them, who is taking the orders," said Cory Dickman, the entrepreneurship coordinator with Triple Win.
The food truck is operated through the work-based learning program Triple Win, where students can get their certifications for food management and entrepreneurship in small businesses, all outside of regular school hours.
"Even though it is work, they seem to love it, work together. They understand the flow of how business works. And I think the guests got to see that," said Danielle Flores, an instructor with Triple Win.
The truck is entirely run by students as they learn hands-on what it takes to run their own business, something you can't learn in a classroom.
"Hands-on, it's showing us how we interact with other people, and how we interact with our own employees. If we have a good bond together, that's good chemistry to help produce more food to the people," said student Azel Rodriguez, who hopes to one day own his own restaurant chain.
"I'll probably start my own business cooking, now I'm learning how to do all the operation stuff, I'll be able to transfer that to what I'm doing on my own," said Rodriguez.
Each weekend will have a different student manager, selling food they selected. They also manage the revenue and learn how to budget for regular business expenses.
"You get to see young people in action, and just creating a difference in the community and creating a difference in themselves and their lives," said Flores.
Triple Win says the food truck is an investment in the students, and the community, as the students are all local to Waco, and they hopefully can put down roots and one day open new restaurants in town.
"They're doing so much on the back-end behind the scenes, and now they can interact with the community that they are a part of that we are trying to keep them here, keep our talent in Waco, just come say hi, support them and come get a burger," said Dickman.
The food truck will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Each weekend throughout the summer students will have different menu options:
- July 16/17: Burgers
- July 23/24: Big Wraps
- July 30/31: Tortas
- August 6/7: A combination of all student menus
- Galaxy Lemonade will be available during each weekend event
Triple Win also provides training for many other professions. They help students earn industry-based certifications in OSHA, ADOBE Suite, and Solidworks (CAD).
Triple Win students have built the Waco Axe Company's trailer as well as built a bike for Waco Pedal Tours from scratch.
This story was originally published by Joel Lopez at KXXV.
