Thanks to a generous gift giving to me at Christmas from a Woodbridge family, I found myself dining at Texas Roadhouse in Seaford. Keith Schaffer, the owner, was not a stranger, nor is he ever when he works. He makes a circuit around the restaurant and checks to see how your experience is and that speaks volumes and does not happen in all restaurants. Secondly, years ago when I worked and coached at Seaford High, he always always supported school initiatives for fundraising and being a long time community supporter- we have some amazing eating establishments in Seaford the reinforce the support needed from schools, he is one of them. Also – he continues to support so many of the students fromWoodbridge – seeing a multitude of them this evening, was actually pretty awesome! I know some people do not want to see students outside of school and yet, the conversations we had – pretty amazing.

From talking with Cody about his exciting discoveries in being a lineman and headed to Georgia after high school to Sianna who played a crucial role in building up our high school library collection in helping choose titles that would capture the interest of a wide ranging number of students- and she asked about them coming in while there this night) and hands down, one of the best servers there, Juli (yes an amazing Woodbridge High graduate as well) – she handled no less than 30 tasks at a time within 5 minutes and for years has been one of the most impressive servers, waitresses, bar managers and you name it) – the best word has been rewarding. The conversations and seeing how efficient these students are outside of school – in diverse ways in the way they communicate with everyone around them – is almost (ALMOST) as awesome as the food that is served with their conversations in your mind.

Super proud of them in ways I can not even conceive – and set a great day straight when I saw them. Worth noting and make sure you take time to spotlight them when you see such dedicated actions in motion. When in Mexico I made a point to have detailed descriptions and conversation with the owners and employees and it said much about the communities they served. I think it is super important to remember the impact such as these on our community as well and making them vocalized. Certainly, for many, the dining experience is a home away from home thanks to them!