South Side

Education big part of this menu

A South Side classroom will be transformed into a gourmet eatery Friday, complete with uniformed waitresses and waiters, maitre d's, floral arraignments and a nationally renowned chef. The fourth annual "Janos Southside" features dishes normally priced at $25 at Janos restaurant on the grounds of the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa, instead served to the faculty of Pueblo High School for $5. Preparing the food will be executive chef and owner of Janos restaurant, Janos Wilder. Staffing will be provided by 40 Pueblo High exceptional education students, ages 14-21, dressed in white shirts, bow ties, and black slacks. "This is the really perfect marriage of our fabulous kids and Janos' fabulous food," Randy Spalding, event organizer and special needs teacher at Pueblo High, 3500 S. 12th Ave., said. All proceeds from the event will help Pueblo High's Community Based Instruction program, which provides specific needs programs and events for the students. Spalding said the event raised over $1,000 last year. With the menu not yet set, the event sold out its 200 seats in five hours the first day reservations were made available. Served this year will be roasted chicken breast with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, ginger carrots, madeira sauce and cranberry syrup. "Janos' food is way better than the cafeteria food," Anita Natividad, 17, said. "That's what I'm saying!" Michael Guevara, 17, said. Both Natividad and Guevara are special-needs students who will be participating in the event. The pair said they could some day wait tables for a living and the experience during "Janos Southside," such as knowing which side of your body to carry the food, helps prepare them. To heighten the professional atmosphere, restaurant apparel for the students and floral arraignments for the tables are donated by local companies. "It's a very different kind of event, but we run a high-class joint," Spalding said. Weeks before, students express interest in roles they would like to play, such as cashier, bill passers, kitchen help. They are then trained by the school staff on how to handle their part in the makeshift restaurant. "I like serving people their food because if you get a real job at a restaurant, you know how to serve people," Guevara said. Spalding said the cashier at the event is an "excellent math exercise," totalling up the pre-printed $5 tabs the patrons receive at the end of their meal. "It's really, really fun with everybody working together," Natividad said. The event is hard work for the students, many of whom are not used to being on their feet for so long at one time, Spalding said. Rewards come at the end of the event, as the students receive a staff meal and get to split tips. "Teachers get a tremendous amount of satisfaction seeing the students rise to the occasion," Spalding said. Wilder said the service by the students is always "spot on." "You can see in their faces and their smiles and hugs how meaningful it is," he said. Friends for over two decades, Spalding met Wilder when he began working catering for Janos' off-site events. Today Spalding runs Janos' catering events on the side, while teaching at Pueblo High. It was Spalding who brought the "Southside Janos" idea to Wilder, who said he is involved in many charity events every year, stretching as far as Wisconsin. "Southside Janos" is the "most fulfilling event" Wilder said he participates in. "It gives you the most wonderful, heartwarming feeling you can imagine," Wilder said, recalling how he spends about the first five minutes of the event receiving hugs. "Southside Janos" is only available to Pueblo High faculty as it is illegal to compete with the school cafeteria for students' money, Spalding said. The experience will prove valuable to the students, not just for "life experiences," but to prove with teamwork what can be done with a will to overcome. "This just brings out the best in everybody," Spalding said.