Scooters Pizza pays tribute to SA's Youth

Flying dough, cheesy grins and thousands of mini pizza-making experts in training marked the fifth annual Scooters Pizza Whizzkid Week which ran throughout the country from the 12-15 June 2006.

Every year, for one week leading up to National Youth Day on the 16 June, South Africa's fastest growing pizza franchise, Scooters Pizza, pays tribute to South Africa's youth. Scooters Pizza's Whizzkid Week sees little learners from all over the country trading in their usual school activities for a lesson in pizza making.

The programme is run on a national basis where each Scooters Pizza store invites children from their local community to take part in an educational pizza-making tour through the store. The children each make their own pizzas and end off the session with a mini pizza party.

When Scooters Pizza started this programme 5 years ago approximately 2000 children learnt to make pizza throughout the week. Following the fast growth of the company, Whizzkid Week now expects around 8700 children to go through the Pizza Fanataics course. "Whizzkid Week is one of Scooters Pizza's most successful initiatives pertaining to kids as the focus is on education while the kids still have a lot of fun," said Scooters Pizza MD, Carlo Gonzaga. Children learn about the different ingredients, the vegetables, meat and grains, the hygiene, learning to roll the dough and of course the patience needed while waiting for their masterpiece to come out of the oven.

Not only is Whizzkid Week educational and fun but it also forms part Scooters Pizza's social responsibility programme. Various children's homes and welfares are also involved in Whizzkids Week. "Making something from scratch and seeing the delicious result at the end instills a certain amount of pride in these kids which many of them don't get anywhere else, not to mention that some have never even tasted a pizza let alone learnt to make one," he said.

Scooters Pizza recognizes and celebrates South Africa's youth and the need for social interaction and community involvement.