A handful of Dowagiac Union High School students took a break from their usual lessons on language and numbers to hone their skills in service and hospitality Thursday.

A group of around 40 students pitched in with the high school’s biannual Senior Citizen Luncheon, which took place that morning inside the library. Around 130 seniors visited the school to enjoy a savory and sweet meal prepared by the students and school cafeteria workers, accompanied by the dulcet tones of the high school choir, who performed classical, foreign and show tunes from its upcoming spring recital.

On the menu that morning was chicken salad, served on croissant, with a side of pasta salad. For dessert, patrons could choose either a slice of the “world’s best brownie,” or a bowl of sugar-free vanilla pudding.

High school health instructor Andy Kruger and physical education teacher Matt MacQuillan organized Thursday’s lunch, which the Dowagiac Union Schools Foundation funds every year. The two teachers have worked together to arrange the food, service and entertainment for the luncheon for the past five years, taking over the event from former home economics instructor Linda O’Keefe, who started it around 15 years ago, Kruger said.

The school hosts the luncheon in the spring and the fall, with Kruger’s students pitching in to help with the former and MacQuillan’s with the latter, they said. The students shoulder most of the responsibility for the operation of the luncheon, including serving and escorting guests, creating the placemats and even pitching in with some of the cooking.

In addition to getting them out the classroom for a few hours, the luncheon connects the students with seniors in the community.

“[The lunch] is as much for the kids as it is for the senior citizens,” MacQuillan said.

The lunch guests always get a kick out of seeing and talking with the students as well.

“I think [the seniors] love getting out of the home as much as the kids like getting out of class,” MacQuillan said.

The teachers said that they believed Thursday’s lunch set the record for the most amount of kisses the escorts received on the cheeks from guests.

In preparation for Thursday’s luncheon, Kruger taught his class about proper serving etiquette and lessons about hospitality. He then assigned the students with different responsibilities: some handled service while others helped out with the cooking, Kruger said.

“So far, this has been the best setup we have ever had,” he said.

Other students and staff pitched in with the luncheon as well. In addition to choir director Jeff Robinson and his students providing music, art teacher Dean Hill had his classroom create fish-themed decorations for the lunch, Kellie Prak and her cafeteria staff helped with the cooking and media specialist Carol Grandholm volunteered to help out during the lunch itself.

Among the students volunteering during the lunch was senior Jolie Camp, who also helped out with the event last semester, she said. Camp and another classmate made the pudding in class the previous day after finding the recipe themselves, she said.

“I think [the lunch] is a nice way to help out the elderly in the community,” Camp said. “It’s a good way to teach students skills we will use in the real world, as well.”