McVDV Night

I’m lovin’ it!

Last Wednesday night, November 30^th, a group of Van Derveer teachers, along with Mr. Diaz and me, served the families of Somerville with a smile at our second McVDV Night.  Working alongside the McDonald’s employees, the Van Derveer staff waited on the hundreds of people who arrived between 5:00-7:00 pm.  The line snaked through the restaurant while the stream of cars stopped traffic on Route 22 as people waited patiently for dinner.

McVDV Night is wonderful fun and it serves so many purposes!  The high school students who work at the Somerville McDonald’s taught us how to strategically fill an order in less than a minute, the best technique to fill the French Fry containers (my job all night), take the drive-thru orders on the computerized screen (Mr. Diaz’s task) and do it all with a smile (the teachers were in fast mode all night).  Needless to say, there were many laughs behind the counter as we learned our new jobs!  And many apologies, too, as we banged into each other and ‘stole’ each other’s food for the orders. Our students were able to witness us learning new things, and not being perfect with each attempt, but still trying!   

Families had an opportunity to sit and have dinner together with one another.  The children eat lunches with their classes so how perfect that they could eat dinner with their neighbors and friends.  It was so fun to see groups of students giggling over Happy Meals while the parents had a chance to chat with each other!  One parent sent me an email and said that McVDV Night was ‘clearly the place to be on Wednesday night!’   A ‘regular’ customer (a non-VDV customer,  that is) said he couldn’t believe the amazing energy, enthusiasm and fun in the restaurant: THAT is our community spirit at its finest!

Our hard work and efforts raised $230.00 for Van Derveer; the money will be used to supplement the Staff Angel Tree where families in need are provided with gifts for the holidays.  This hard earned money could not be put to better use!

The founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc, said, “None of us is as good as all of us.”  I feel like that quote captures the spirit of the Van Derveer community. Maybe that is another reason it was such a spectacular night!