Dorsey Students Operate ‘Ruff Dog’ Pop-up Restaurant
Larenz Tate with SBE students. (courtesy photo)
Last year local franchise owners and partners at PCF Restaurant Management, Edward Barnett and Karim Webb announced a partnership between their restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings (Baldwin Hills) and Dorsey High School’s School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE).
The 16 week program, which launched this Spring, taught 29 Senior SBE students how to effectively run a restaurant from beginning to end.
Now, the final test, a fully functional pop-up restaurant, Ruff Dog, developed and operated by the students at Dorsey High School was held on Thursday, May 21st.
Dorsey Ruff Dogs. (courtesy photo)
The SBE & BWW restaurant training program offered each of its students a hands on, individual experience that will carry over into adulthood as well as provide each with new opportunities they otherwise might not have had. From financing and marketing to operations, the students learned the ins and outs of running a successful restaurant, gaining valuable skills in the process.
Though in its first year, the restaurant training program, conceived and taught by Barnett and Webb, has been a huge success amongst the students and parents alike.
“I think this restaurant business program is about to open our eyes in a different way!”
“The BWW entrepreneur program is pretty cool. It’s new to me because of the way they teach and how everything is playing out is more like an internship instead of school. I hope that I get the logistics of everything so that I can get through the program successfully,” said Sequoia Blocker, SBE Student
Ruff Dog is located at Dorsey High School and additional program support was provided by the Los Angeles Urban League and their president, Nolan V. Rollins.
The SBE partnership is just one of the many private to public ventures from the entrepreneurial pair who focus on aiding underserved youth in Southern California. And with President Obama’s recent expansion of the “My Brother’s Keeper” program, these gentlemen are on the right track.
Barnett and Webb are very active in the BLOOM Program, which seeks to create a more positive and productive future for a specific population of the L.A. community: 14-18 year old Black males living in South L.A. who are or have been under the supervision of the L.A. County Probation Department. They also are heavily involved with the Advocates Pro Tour, an organization which helps aspiring young African American golfers make it to the PGA Tour. The program has also recently launched a fundraiser and mentor program, “Conversations with a Legend,” the first installment of which featured LA Lakers Head Coach, Byron Scott.
The School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) is one of three academies at Dorsey High School. SBE has a ‘Corporate and Entrepreneurial’ theme supported by specific electives, hands-on experiential activities, and business related partnerships.
