To the editor:

On May 6, Hillcrest sixth-graders once again opened Italian restaurants. These restaurants showed everyone that 12-year-olds can do more than people think! As sixth-graders, we often think we aren’t capable of much, but our restaurants showed us otherwise.

To prepare for our restaurants, we created resumes, filled out applications, and wrote letters of recommendation. Each student was interviewed by a local business person who came to Hillcrest to meet with us. One interviewer even took extra time to train us how to give a good, strong handshake!

This project wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of our business partners and other area businesses. These people gave us spaghetti sauce, salad fixings, paper plates, etc. It was a good feeling to find that so many of you believed in us.

After an exhausting two hours serving over 200 customers, we were proud of ourselves for learning how difficult this kind of job is. But we were even MORE proud when we realized that simply by inviting friends and families to eat together, our little restaurants brought people from all over Lawrence together at a dinner table to talk to each other. We felt that this was our biggest accomplishment.

We hope that this spirit of community continues in Lawrence. Thanks, sponsors and volunteers, for setting a good example for us. Because of you, the community no longer underestimates what kids can do.

And neither do we.

(Compiled by Kendra Metz)