By Lisa Merolla, Staff Writer
STOCKTON — Trenton elementary school students will get an insider’s look at the restaurant industry during a June 10 field trip to the Stockton Inn.
The students, sixth-graders from P.J. Hill Elementary School, will tour the kitchen, talk to employees and eat a lunch donated by the inn’s owners. Their visit is designed to teach the students about job opportunities in the restaurant business.
Fred Strackhouse, who owns the Stockton Inn with his wife, Janet, said the students will gain an understanding of what goes on in a hotel restaurant.
”They’ll get to see what the daily routine is like — what happens when the food comes in and how they prepare it,” he said.
Deanne McBeath, a sixth-grade teacher at P.J. Hill and Lambertville resident, called the visit an end-of-the-year treat. The students do not often take field trips outside the city.
”I’m really excited to be in the beautiful town of Stockton,” Ms. McBeath said. “I don’t know how many of them get out of Trenton.”
The trip is not simply a one-day event for the students, however. The teachers at P.J. Hill also have incorporated the field trip into the curriculum, devising new lesson plans based on the experience.
For example, students will learn about the history of the Stockton area. Ms. McBeath plans to discuss George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River as well as the Lindbergh trial during which the inn hosted secret pretrial hearings.
”There’s a lot of history there,” Ms. McBeath said.
The lesson plans also will cover different careers in the restaurant business. Ms. McBeath said the students will create their own restaurant plan, choosing a name, designing a menu and deciding what types of employees to hire.
In addition, the teachers have made a new disciplinary program centered around the field trip. Named the “positive behavior plan,” students are awarded or deducted points based on their behaviors. Students need 100 points in order to come on the field trip.
”We want all the kids to be able to come,” Ms. McBeath said. “We told them, ‘We want you to come, so just try to buckle down.’”
Dan Mullarkey, the sixth-grade math teacher at P.J. Hill, also has integrated the trip into his curriculum. He will address topics such as adding up menu items and calculating appropriate tips.
The path to arranging this field trip has been a long one, beginning with Ms. McBeath’s mid-life career change. She used to work as an insurance executive until last year when she began pursuing a master’s degree in education at The College of New Jersey.
”I liked my job, and I was successful, but I figured if I was going to work another 15 plus years, I wanted to be doing something to help someone,” she explained.
Ms. McBeath now is working as a full-time substitute at P.J. Hill, and she has headed the sixth-grade class since January. When the school hosted a career day in February, Ms. McBeath asked her sister, Dawn McBeth (who spells her last name differently), to talk about her work as a pastry chef at the Stockton Inn.
”I was impressed with the school and staff,” Ms. McBeth said of her visit to her sister’s school. “It’s definitely low-income. It’s one of the worst areas in Trenton, but the school was bright and cheerful, and the kids were very interested and enthusiastic.”
Because her students enjoyed the demonstration, Ms. McBeath asked her sister to help arrange a picnic for the students. When she mentioned the idea to Mr. Strackhouse, he had another suggestion.
He offered to invite the students to lunch at the inn, agreeing to accommodate almost 50 sixth-grade students on a field trip. Mr. Strackhouse thought the visit could be both fun and educational, and he hopes the students will take away an understanding of the hotel business.
”We’re a microcosm of what the Marriott and Hilton go through,” he said.
The Strackhouses also host a program for Stockton Public School, inviting the school’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to the inn for lunch. The program teaches students about etiquette, tip calculations and nutrition. “It allows young kids to understand what it’s like to eat in a restaurant.” Mr. Strackhouse said. “We’ve taken a simple trip to the restaurant and expanded it.”
Ms. McBeath said her school appreciates the Strackhouses’ generosity. Everyone is looking forward to the field trip, not just the students.
”All the parents want to be chaperones,” she said.
