For the first time since 2019, a German Club tradition has returned. The club used to organize and run a food booth at the Ethnic Expo every year, but had to stop because of the pandemic. Senior Lukas Hoehn decided to take on the responsibility of planning the booth as his senior project.
“My German teacher reached out to our class saying that she needed help setting up this booth and I responded saying that I’d love to help, it sounded fun and I could make it my senior project,” Hoehn said.
As one of the main organizers of the booth, Hoehn was responsible for making financial spreadsheets, finding volunteers and planning the menu.
“We ended up serving bratwurst both with an American bun and with a German bun from a bakery,” Hoehn said. “We also had a currywurst option, which was the bratwurst with a curry sauce and curry powder. We had sauerkraut, red cabbage, potato salad as some of our sides and a drink called spezi, which was a mix of Coke, Fanta and some lemon.”
German teacher Amelia Shaw considers the booth a huge success.
“It was a success from a monetary standpoint because we made a profit and it was a success for us as a program because we had a lot of volunteers and it got a lot of students involved who don’t have a lot of after school activities,” Shaw said.
As successful as the booth was, the volunteers working there ran into a few problems, according to German Club member Arhant Awale.
“We kept running out of ingredients to make stuff,” Awale said.
Hoehn provides a few more details about their issues with insufficient inventory.
“We ended up selling out of our brats, so we had to get more,” Hoehn said. “We almost sold out of all of those, too. We went through almost 800 brats.”
Despite these challenges, Hoehn noted that the money made from the booth exceeded his expectations.
“We ended up making about $4,400,” Hoehn said. “Our goal was $3,000.”
The profit made by the booth will be used to fund activities for the German Club and German students.
“We will probably go on multiple field trips, but the first field trip we have planned is for my German 3 and 4 students,” Shaw said. “We’re going to a place called the Heidelberg Haus. It’s in Indianapolis, and it’s a German bakery, cafe and restaurant.”
In addition to providing funds for the German class activities, Shaw notes that those who volunteered also gained volunteer experience, and learned how to work with custumers.
“One thing they gained was they had to interact with customers, mostly adult customers, in a professional manner and not all of the interactions were positive,” Shaw said. “In food service, you’re always going to have a grumpy customer.”
Awale agrees that volunteering at the booth helped him and other students practice important life skills.
“It builds up teamwork because there are multiple stations you have to work at,” Awale said. “My friend was grilling and I was at the bun-cutting section. Then there are the cashiers. They took the orders and then they had to yell the order back at us.”
Awale enjoyed the experience and thinks that other students should consider volunteering.
“I would say that it’s a good experience for everyone,” Awale said. “Everyone should volunteer at least once somewhere at a food booth.”
Shaw also says that she and Hoehn have learned a lot from organizing the food booth.
“Now we’re going to take all the data we have and try to get better processes in place so that next year, when we run a food booth, it’s not as stressful for me or for the student who’s doing this as their project,” Shaw said. “But I do think it was very successful and we’ll probably do it again next year.”
