I’m a big believer in "old st
I’m a big believer in “old school”, not just because I’m… well, old, but because it brings back a simplicity and attention to presentation, product and service that can sometimes get lost in today’s big-business mentality.
Wishing you much success.
P.S. Mushrooms, pepperoni, olives, thin-crust, with an amazing sauce. It’s the secret to Pizza Success, as far as this pizza fan is concerned.
Thanks. Those are family ovens from 1960 and the holy grail for NY pies. Walter
Thanks. we made NBC News NYC today and have it all on facebook - Smiling With Hope Pizza - NY Pizza with a Social Cause. Walter
Thanks. Things have been crazy with lines starting 45 minutes before we open for diner and 30 minutes before we open for lunch. Luckily I have 2 of the best chef’s in Reno volunteering with us and 2 trainees with disabilities. The phone rang this morning and I saw the (212) area code (NYC) and wondered who that could be? I figured it was a friend calling to say hi and was I surprised when it was NBC. They interviewed me and some other people for the article and put it out by lunch time. The news world sure moves fast like a WFO pizza 
Here is the link. Walter
http://abcnews.go.com/US/owners-nevada-pizzeria-make-point-hire-workers-disabilities/story?id=37309292
Walter;
Congratulations!
Hummmm, I can see more stores and a small chain beginning to develop. Something to think about and maybe mull over at Pizza Expo.
See you there!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom: Thanks for the well wishes! Never say never they say but it would have to be a very special situation for that to happen. Heck, I like making pizzas and being onsite. I look forward to talking with you at the expo. Walter
You may have posted this info before but I would like to ask, How many square feet do you have?
we are 1,200 sqft total inside and have an outside patio that is about 300 sqft. It is pretty much identical is set up to the shops I grew up eating/working in as a kid back in NJ. Walter
Hey Walter, I just saw this thread for the first time. Haven’t read a word of it yet, but the pictures at the beginning tell me plenty. I didn’t even know you were a member here. Can’t wait to find out what’s up.
Ryan: We opened Jan 6th and it has been nothing but crazy busy. Lines start before we open most days and we have already far exceeded our hopes with sales for the shop. We don’t deliver, no alcohol, no TV’s, nothing but pizza/salad, no fountain drinks, no advertising, split shift limited hours 5 days a week, and people keep coming and enjoying the step back in time experience There has been lots of media coverage locally and nationally. The Ellen Degeneres Show, NBC Nightly News NYC, contacted us several times to learn more and are considering us for a segment. NPR just finished interviewing us for a story. The local papers and NBC News/Good Morning America have also done spots on us. We have 4 employees/trainees with disabilities, and have had a who’s who of Reno people ordering from us including the mayors office for council meetings. About 30-40% of our customers are NY/NJ natives. The all have given us 5 stars and come in weekly or more. Today we are being interviewed for an Austrailian radio station and the local NBC news is doing a story this week. We have held off the TV channels here (all continue to call us weekly to do a story) because we have just been too busy. Now that we have our system flowing smooth and a good staff of non disabled people to help out we are ready for more customers. Here are some links. I run a sort of diary on the facebook page. The only sad news is in 3 short months I have surpassed 25 years of working my butt off around the clock doing the same thing in the public schools as a special education teacher. It shows the road blocks they put up for programs that work/dysfunction/denial about disabilities reality of our public school system. Walter
https://www.facebook.com/SmilingWithHopePizza/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/owners-nevada-pizzeria-make-point-hire-workers-disabilities/story?id=37309292
http://www.rgj.com/story/life/food/2016/02/25/new-pizzeria-trains-people-learning-disabilities/80860918/
That’s awesome, man. Wish you were still around here so I could witness it. I bet it’s nice not having a bunch of classroom tables in the way, and nice being able to keep the prep table work area directly in front of the oven. Heck, your “classroom” probably has more “students” than your old classroom at any given time, doesn’t it? Being productive; making money.
Did Newark HS make any effort to continue what you started? I still think it would be cool to see how you might have done somewhere like the Short North. But I don’t blame you for getting out of central Ohio in a hurry. I’ve been trying my whole life.
You’re one of a kind. You deserve the success you seem to be experiencing. I hope I can visit your pizzeria someday. Reno is one of very few American cities I’ve never been to. Now I want to go there.
Walter do you have any advice on hiring people with disabilities if someone wanted to do something on a smaller scale?
Thanks Ryan. I think we could have done well in Columbus but the high rents in hip areas of Columbus, the weather, and having to move from Granville to Columbus, made it a no go. We are in the most affluent area of Reno and the rent is dirt cheap compared to the Short North or Clintonville. Plus no state income tax, lower property taxes, and much higher pizza prices made this a great move. Newark City Schools removed our website a week after I left. My students are still in the commercial kitchen (my classroom) but are only making a few healthy cookies for Granville Schools 1 period a day. The other 7 periods they are filling out the same meaningless worksheets they have done all their school lives and in typical public school fashion a wonderful workspace is being misused on the taxpayers dime . I left because I was told my students, who I had all day for 5 years in the program, were going to only be in it 1 period a day. The rest of the day I was to teach sit in the seat paperwork academics at the 1-3rd grade levels. I refused as there is no future for a high school student to find academic based work at this level of mastery in our society. They also tried to prevent me from taking my pizza ovens which I paid for, paid to move in, paid to hook up, and paid to maintain. I told them when I brought them in they would remain my property. It cost me $2k in lawyer fees to get them out. Public schools in America are a dismal failure for people with disabilities and in time will be viewed as a crime to humanity and remember my program was the only one of its kind in the USA. Most all special education students in our country’s public schools are basically being baby sat until they age out of the system. What they are being taught has no future in our society. How would we feel knowing our children would come out of the public school experience with a 90%+ unemployment rate as adults? Hopefully you can make out here someday. It is a breath of fresh air here in the Sierras in more ways than one 
Walter
I want to thank you for expressing interest in exploring the possibility of hiring a person with disabilities. There are many routes to go with this. The Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) is a great first step. Contact them and they can share the options. We became a Community Based Assessment Site (CBA) through them. It is a very simple process- fill out a couple pages of forms and have a simple inspection done for safety. It doesn’t cost anything either. Once you are certified clients of BVR can train for 80 hours and be paid through government funding (minimum wage). They can have a paid job coach as well who will learn the tasks and then teach them to the trainee. Once you put it out there you are interested in hiring someone with disabilities you will be amazed at how many people come your way via parents, group homes, private companies that help them find work
The toughest hurdle to overcome is the training period. Many will take a much longer time to learn the tasks and to feel comfortable in your shop. But once trained, they will most likely become your most dedicated, honest, employee(s). I would push for the job coach if you don’t have a background working with people with disabilities. Through the BVR program you can terminate the training period at any time and if the trainee needs more time another 80 hours can be requested. I hope this helps and if you need more info let me know. Walter
I volunteered in high school with special Olympics, my uncle was in Vietnam and had agent orange, his first son was disabled and we’ve been close for a long time. I’ll look into it thanks and I’ll report back
That is wonderful you are going to check this out. I would investigate the potential trainees backgrounds with the BVR. Some may have issues you are not comfortable dealing with. This way you can custom pick your people. Walter
I remember you indicating to me that the nasty winter two years ago played a big role in you and your wife’s decision to go back west right after you retire. Funny, we had a very mild winter this year. Not much snow, anyway.
Wow. I can’t believe they fought you for your ovens. I remember you telling me when you got them that they’re going with you when you’re done teaching there. Which I don’t think anyone should’ve had a problem with, considering they were always yours.
At least you had a chance to do what you did in Newark. Just having done it surely inspired many others to do similar things. Maybe someday classrooms like yours will be common. They should be.
Thanks Ryan. Throughout my teaching career as I created real working business programs, won awards, got lots of publicity/community support, I always felt like things would change for the better for all special education students but when I returned to my classroom it was often an all out battle to keep the system from destroying it. I have sued the district I worked in, moved to 3 different states not because I like moving but because the programs I created got shut down even though we made more money than most any other school earning group like athletics/music. I am glad I did all those years in the schools but if someone offered me a million dollars to do one more year I would say they are about 900 million short on the offer. I continue to present my model for the schools to special education teachers in training here at the University of Nevada Reno and the various agencies that serve people with disabilities. Hopefully something will stick and things will change. I feel good doing my little bit. Walter
Good luck with that. I went to UNLV to study secondary education; inspired by having been expelled from high school, then going back and quitting, before finally being treated for a learning disorder and breezing through my remaining credits. Once I got my stuff together, I really wanted to be a teacher, to keep other kids from going through what happened to me; mostly by simply caring.
By the time I was a semester from graduating from UNLV, I didn’t want to be a teacher anymore, thanks to both UNLV and the Clark County School District. All UNLV did was train me to be the same person who made me hate high school. Eventually I couldn’t go through the motions anymore, so I quit. I had to. Hopefully UNR is a little better than UNLV.
Sorry to go off topic.
Ryan: I hated school as well as a kid and I was drawn back to do things different. It worked for a good long time and I am thankful for the experience. Now I get to be the master of the universe as long as I pay the rent 
We are getting filmed this week I think for an NBC news segment. I am always challenged to not go off the deep end with the problems with schools today and keep it truthful but not so loaded… Walter