Teachers take over McDonald’s
Published 4:24 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
Smiles and laughter were plentiful Thursday, Oct. 26, at the North Bend McDonald’s “McTeacher’s Night” as lines of middle-school students formed behind each register. Teachers from Chief Kanim Middle School manned various positions in the McDonald’s and prepared to serve their students and other customers.
The idea was for teachers to work in the McDonald’s restaurant for two short shifts, from 4:30-6 p.m. and 6-7:30 p.m., taking over the registers, milkshake and McFlurry makers, drinks and even selling cookies to raise money for their school. They earned 20 percent of the proceeds for the school. The money raised will be used to expand the curriculum and pay for guest speakers and additional staff training, said Ray Wilson, assistant principal.
The idea came from the McDonald’s corporate headquarters, said Wilson. A North Bend McDonald’s manager gave a list of local schools’ e-mail addresses to the restaurant’s public relations representative to ask the schools to participate. Chief Kanim was the only area school that responded. Although it was CKMS’s first year working with McDonald’s, other McDonald’s restaurants across the country have implemented the idea with their local schools successfully. So, McDonald’s e-mailed Kirk Dunckel, principal of CKMS, to ask about the idea.
“It’s service to the community,” said David Didato, second assistant manager at the North Bend McDonald’s and liaison to the school. “It’s hectic and fun at the same time. We hope it’s more fun than hectic.” If all goes well, they’ll do it again in the spring or next fall, he said.
Dunckel passed the idea on to the teachers. The teachers loved it and 18 of them decided to help out.
“It’s totally voluntary,” said Judy Beal, seventh-grade teacher. “It’s a great way to fund raise and it ties teachers to the community and industry.”
“It gives the kids a chance to see us in a completely different venue,” Page Perey, seventh-grade teacher, agreed. It puts the kids in a position of power and control, she said. “We serve them.”
To make it a little more interesting, the teachers started a competition between homeroom classes. The teacher with the most students who participated in McTeacher’s Night from their class will receive a prize. The prize hadn’t yet been decided on, but the teachers had too much fun to care.
The students were excited about it, too.
“I think it’s really cool they’re raising money for the school,” said Giselle Gonzales, seventh grader. “It’s really fun seeing them try to, like, run McDonald’s.”
