November 06, 2025
The cafeteria at City Academy looked a little different one morning last spring. With crisp black tablecloths, live violin music provided by Violin Teacher Laura Reycraft, and parent volunteers dressed as waitstaff, it was transformed into “Café City” — an upscale dining experience designed to teach kindergartners and sixth graders lessons in etiquette, financial literacy, and community.
What began as a simple idea quickly grew into something much bigger. “We were at a professional development and just talking about math,” recalled Kindergarten STEAM Teacher Rochelle Bain-Wright. “I asked Mrs. [Stephanie] Oteng if she had ever heard of restaurant math, and she hadn’t. I explained it, and it just came out of us having a conversation. We didn’t know it was going to keep building — but it did.”
The two teachers decided to make “restaurant math” the centerpiece of a capstone project. In the weeks leading up to the brunch, sixth graders and kindergartners were paired into “families.” Together, they created family names, designed menus, and practiced the skills they would need for the big day. Guest speaker (and kindergarten mom) Shalisa Wings, from First Bank, talked to students about “needs and wants” and how to make good choices with money. In the classroom, kindergartners practiced cutting with forks and knives — using Play-Doh as their entrée — and learned how to carry polite conversations at an appropriate voice level.
On the morning of the event, students and guests, including Head of School Jarrett Young, President and Co-Founder Don Danforth, and several staff members, were greeted by a hostess and seated with their “family.” Parent volunteers played the role of waiters and waitresses, serving a menu of milk, juice, biscuits, oatmeal, eggs, hashbrowns, and turkey sausage. As food arrived, kindergartners tallied the totals on their guest checks while their sixth-grade partners checked the math and calculated the tip using percentages.
For Bain-Wright, the collaboration between the younger and older scholars in the school was central to the project’s success. “Sixth graders are supposed to be the leaders in our building — the students that others should emulate,” she explained. “Having them paired with kindergartners helped both groups boost their self-esteem. I think the sixth graders really took ownership, coming up with their family names, designing the menu, and helping guide the conversations at the tables.”
“Once I told the parents what we were doing and asked if they could volunteer, they were so excited.”
-Rochelle Bain-Wright, Kindergarten STEAM Teacher
The event also became a showcase for community involvement. Parents eagerly embraced their roles as servers, even coordinating their outfits. “Once I told the parents what we were doing and asked if they could volunteer, they were so excited,” Bain-Wright said. “The night before they were calling each other asking, ‘Are you wearing heels? Are you wearing flat shoes? Are we all wearing white tops?’ I think the parents took it very seriously. It was a great event, but it had meaning behind it.”
Chief Financial and Operating Officer Brian Gross was one of the special invited guests that morning. “I thought they did a tremendous job overall,” he said. “One of the parts that stood out to me the most was seeing parents engaging and serving the kids. You could see how much the students enjoyed the experience. To be able to see that community aspect between faculty, staff, parents, and students — it was very special.”
Behind the scenes, Bain-Wright worked with Gross, Food Service Consultants (FSC), and Food Services Manager Laura Carpenter to make the vision a reality. “Rochelle gave us the vision,” Gross explained. “The FSC crew had some flexibility to support it and provide the food in a way that worked for the event. They were all hands on deck.”
Looking back, Bain-Wright emphasized that the heart of “Café City” was more than just math lessons or table manners — it was about giving students something to remember. “When I had my interview here at City Academy, I came from a school district where the most important thing was data,” she said. “And I told them, if I don’t do anything else, I want to make memories. I want students to walk away with something more than just their test scores. Doing this created a memory, and I think they’ll always remember it.”