Since last school year, the Norton High School (NHS) STEP Out Program has partnered with Mansfield Bar Pizza and Salad Co. This partnership was developed as a way to get students involved in jobs. Mansfield Bar Pizza and Salad Co. already had a partnership with Mansfield High School and was eager to work with another school.
The NHS STEP Out program is a special education transition program for students ages 18-22. The way the partnership works is an email reminder gets sent to staff at NHS on Tuesday to place their order. When Wednesday comes around Marc from Mansfield Bar Pizza and Salad Co. brings the pizzas and the students in STEP Out organize and deliver the pizzas to the teachers right before the lunch block starts. Mansfield Bar Pizza and Salad Co. then donates 15-20% of the sales back to NHS Best Buddies.
"Today we started actually going into Mansfield Bar Pizza and the students helped with prepping pizza boxes and filling salad dressing cups," says Transition Coordinator Jamie Mall. "I'm hoping that in the future as we get used to the jobs there, more will pop up and students will be able to learn more about jobs in food prep/services. One student today, after folding his first few boxes said, "I could see myself being a pizza guy". And to me that is the purpose of getting these partnerships with local businesses and giving students different opportunities to find their passions and strengths that they otherwise might not know are there. If you haven't tried it yet, it's amazing! Marc makes almost everything from scratch. And if you are at the high school, please consider buying some pizza or salads to support Best Buddies!"
