Los Angeles Unified School District officials announced Friday a new food truck to provide students with disabilities with meals prepared by the community while preparing them for careers.
The vehicle, built in Japan and later in Florida, is an electric replica of a typical 1960s Volkswagen bus with a surfboard strapped to its roof.
The blue-and-white rotating classroom, dubbed “Finn’s Rolling Café,” accommodates up to three students at a time at the school’s bistro, located in the Ernest P. Willenberg Career Transition Center. We can provide menus. The restaurant is also run by students.
Items prepared in the van will be provided at other schools in the San Pedro area.
The van is intended to help students with disabilities develop workforce skills in the service industry.
“It takes a village to build a village’s future,” Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said at the education center’s unveiling ceremony. “Everyone has a place in our community and everyone has something big to contribute.”
Transition Centers have a long history of ensuring students with disabilities are adequately prepared for life outside the classroom. On average, the school’s work programs double, and in some cases triple, the national average employment rate for people with special needs, who represent about 30 percent of graduates. The national average is only 8%.
“They’re coming in at the same age as high school adults, but they may be a little more impulsive and not know where they’re going,” said Gavin Mirigliani, the school’s principal. “But they have a direction after they graduate from here. They have a path.”
Finn’s Rolling Cafe could begin serving food during high school football games in San Pedro as early as Friday night.
