The Department of Home Economics Education proudly congratulates their students who have successfully completed their practicum in the course HEEd 149: Practicum III Management of School Food Service Centers. Here, they shared what kind of service they have chosen to provide and how they were able to successfully execute the practicum despite their challenges and trials, succeeding with the fruits of their labor to take with them in their professions. 

HEEd 149 has the title Practicum III Management of School Food Service Centers. The course’s main goal is to simulate a real-life food service environment to impart the skills and abilities necessary to offer adequate, hospitable, and competent service.  For the second semester of the academic year 2024-2025, students of HEEd 149 proudly presented Kushinaya, offering a fusion of appealing Japanese meals with the familiarity of Filipino flavors in their menu.

The efforts and skills of the entire class was needed to make this endeavor a success. As such, their initial planning process was focused on their strengths, what each member could bring to the table–whether it be innovative ideas or skillful expertise that would make their processes and inner workings more efficient. While they played safe by conceptualizing with familiar ideas, it worked well in their favor as confidence in their delivery greatly affected their overall performance.

Like many establishments in the Foodservice Industry, they faced the same difficulties stemming from their lack of manpower. Many of the members had multiple roles and responsibilities to keep everything running as smoothly as they possibly can. While there was a learning curve to  determine and adapt to, they were able to do so efficiently and support each other in the process, stumbling in and figuring out their challenges together.

A remarkable win for the class was when they had finally breakeven—their profit having caught up with their total costs for this great project. Realizing their hard work had paid off, it was a weight off their shoulders and they were able to walk with more memories and experiences that would resonate throughout their entirety of their chosen respective careers.

Throughout this experience, there was one advice they had to share to those who will be taking HEEd 149 in the future:

"Have a lot of patience. Don’t take everything too seriously. Try to enjoy working with your group because it will make everything easier and more fun!"

Kushinaya