Davis-Monthan Kids Find Slice of Life at Papa John’s ‘How to Make a Pizza’ Event

Ace Cummings, Services Business manager at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and a new marketing team for Papa John’s were discussing how to boost sales for the pizza place when the marketing team asked if they could invite kids from the base to show them how to make a pizza.

“Absolutely!” Cummings said.

The team contacted the Davis-Monthan Youth Center and the base’s school-age day care center, and both responded enthusiastically. The day care is usually for before- and after-school care, but during spring break, kids were there all day, so “How to Make a Pizza” was scheduled for the week of March 15.

Laure Sylvia of Papa John’s Pizza demonstrates her dough-tossing technique at a “How to Make a Pizza” party at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Exchange.

With pandemic precautions in mind, the event was limited to 10 kids per day. But the whole week was a hit.

“They had a blast,” Cummings said. “They were saying, ‘One day, I’m gonna make pizzas. Growing up, I’m going to go ahead and open up my own pizza place.’ They absolutely loved it.”

The young chefs wore personal protective equipment (PPE), including hairnets and gloves, and learned proper handwashing procedures to ensure that the event was safe, secure and sanitized. They got a look behind the scenes, going to the back of the food court area and learning about the equipment. Although they couldn’t get too close to the ovens–the younger children had to stay in front of the counter–they did get to watch as pizzas were being cooked.

Back row from left: Selena See and Laure Sylvia of Papa John’s Pizza, Takara Childs from the Davis-Monthan AFB School Age Program, and Davis-Monthan Service Business manager Ace Cummings with one of the groups of children from the “How to Make a Pizza” spring break event.

What they liked the most was the pizza-making itself.

“They were able to play around with the dough and the flour and make their own little personalized

pizzas,” Cummings said. “Of course, all of them said their pizza was the best.”

Papa John’s team members explained the tools the restaurant uses, taught the children about safety practices and showed them how to spread the dough and put the sauce on the pizzas. Each session took about an hour.

The new pizza-makers from the school-age care program ranged from 5 to 8 years old. Participants from the youth center ranged from 9 to 16.

“They were going to go home and try to make pizza for themselves,” Cummings said. “It was such an amazing time with them.”