The Duval County School District and Jax Chamber are working together to make food trucks a part of the district's career academies.Six Jacksonville high schools (Edward White, First Coast, Jean Ribault, Robert E. Lee, Mandarin, and William Raines) will participate in the program, which will include instruction in all aspects of working on a food truck including logistics, marketing and food preparation.
Students from each school will take on different roles as part of running a food truck managed by the district was part of the "Mobile School Cafeteria" capstone project.
The partnership will include mentoring with local businesses and on-site training for students.
Jax Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis said students will be able to fill many jobs that are already available and waiting for a trained workforce.
"It's a great problem to have," he said. "We've got a lot of jobs that we can fill in this community and we need to be able to attract them with a skilled workforce."
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti saids the partnership will expose more students to the workforce and will provide experiences that can’t be found in a textbook regarding work decorum.
He said students will also learn to work together, which will benefit them later as they enter the job market.
Teachers and students will begin meeting with business partners on a monthly basis as part of the project starting next month.
You can follow Kevin Meerschaert on Twitter @KMeerschaertJax.
