Mozzeria has joined forces with the California School for the Deaf (CSD). The foremost factor why I am excited is because I am a proud CSD alumnus.

CSD is located in Fremont which is a forty-five minute drive away from San Francisco. CSD offers services to deaf students of all ages throughout northern California from infancy through the 12th grade. I was schooled at CSD for twelve years and I cannot forget my times at CSD. I had great role models at CSD that greatly impacted my life and molded who I have become today.

CSD invited my husband, Russ recently to serve as one of the judges of “Deaf Iron Chef.” While he was there, he spoke with several teachers in the Career Technical Education (CTE) department. This is where the idea was born – to offer CSD students real-life working experiences by doing basic construction tasks at Mozzeria.

Jeff Mosher teaches the 'Construction Technology/Green Technology' class at CTE where his high school students are introduced to basic construction & green principles and technical skills. Together, Jeff and Colin Piotrowski, Job Placement Specialist in the CSD Career Center, spoke to us about the benefits of allowing students to do painting at Mozzeria. We thought it was a fantastic opportunity for students to realize they can achieve anything they dream of.

A team of four students and two staff members came to Mozzeria on Tuesday to survey the space. Then they started painting which took two days to complete. During a lunch break, Russ, Jeff, Colin and I shared our work experiences with the students. We hope it inspires them to set goals in their own lives.

Students are hard at work painting the walls at Mozzeria.

Thank you Jeff, Colin, Paul Padilla, Shawn Benavente, Antoine Nathaniel and Zepsi Prader for making Mozzeria look beautiful!

Photo credit: Colin Piotrowski