NEWS
4
New businesses to open
in Village Shopping Center
What is
CACTUSGRILL In 1985, Ed Geiselman opened Jose Pepper’s to meet the demand of a family style Mexican restaurant. Jose Pepper’s thrived and now has five locations in the KC area. Four years later, Gieselman decided to produce a more upscale, but still reasonably priced restaurant with some of his favorite Jose Pepper’s recipes. And Cactus Grill was born. According to Cactus Grill manager Matt Hench, the upscale environment comes with a more traditional red sauce than Jose Pepper’s and healthier food options. Hench believes these things set Cactus Grill apart. “We’re really a traditional Mexican restaurant with great service and food,” Hench said. “I think Cactus Grill will do great [here].”
Through the Years
BY
» bernadettemyers
CACTUS
Since its opening 55 years ago, the corner lot in of the village has been leased to a variety of restaurants Steak & Goat Cheese Towers... $7.29 and stores including Char-grilled slices of beef tenderloin and Applebee’s, which closed goat cheese rolled in a large flour tortilla four months ago. grilled and served tower style with chipotle Under construction aioli and fesh pico salad. right now, Cactus Grill Shrimp Tacos... $9.99 will be opening in October Shrimp sauteed with bell peppers, onions where Applebee’s used to and roma tomatoes in two flour tortillas, be. According to Gale Terry, topped with melted cheese. Barbecued Chicken Quesadilla... $6.99 director of marketing at Grilled chicken with the house BBQ sauce, Highwoods Realty, Cactus served with sour cream, guacamole and pico Grill will be a success. de gallo. “It was a good Chicken Tortilla Salad...$7.99 combination of timing, Julliene strips of chicken breast tossed with crisp what the market needs tortilla strips, fresh salad greens and honey-lime and a local feel to the vinigrette, drizzled with ancho-honey mustard restaurant,” Terry said. “It’s dressing. a family friendly restaurant Cactus Burger... $6.99 with family friendly Choice ground beef grilled to orderwith prices.” lettuce, tomato and onion. Served with Cactus Grill, with seasoned fries and dill pickle spear. another location near town center plaza, is a Mexican restaurant affiliated with Jose Pepper’s and sports many of the same menu items, including the specialities of creamy steak enchiladas and wahoo fish tacos. Matt Hench, manager of Cactus Grill recommends, the Monteray chicken burrito and also their unique ultra thin chips. According to Hench, the food at Cactus Grill is a lot healthier than most Mexican restaurants. “We boil our rice instead of frying and we don’t use any lard, just vegetable shortening,” Hench said. He believes that the healthy food plus the reasonable prices will set
The
Cuisine
Cactus Grill expands to local area
GRILL
Cactus Grill apart. It is also a local restaurant and Donna Potts of the Prairie Village Merchants Association believes Cactus Grill will thrive because it isn’t a chain restaurant. “Prairie Village just isn’t a chain neighborhood,” Potts said. “We like to support our local businesses.” A local business that will be competing with Cactus Grill is Salty Iguana, another family style Mexican restaurant located in Corinth. As a manager of Corinth as well, Potts doesn’t see this as being a problem. “I think they have different things to offer,” Potts said. “Plus Salty Iguana always has a wait so there are plenty of customers.” The Highwoods Realty company manages both the Prairie Village Shopping Center and Corinth Shopping Center and Terry also believes there is plenty of business to go around. “We would never put something in that we thought would jeopardize another one of our tenants,” Terry said. Cactus Grill is not the only addition to Prairie Village Shopping Center. Along with redecorated storefronts and repainted signs, Prairie Village will become a completely full shopping center. Jake’s in the Village, a clothing store sporting Life is Good products, opened on Sept. 3. The store specializes in fitness clothing for all ages. Also a women’s dress store called Haught Style will be opening next to Euston Hardware in mid-October. Potts is excited for these openings along with the opening of Cactus Grill and she has heard postive feedback about the changes. “Everyone’s thrilled to have the shopping center full,” Potts said. “Cactus Grill should make a great addition to our neighborhood.” Senior David Isenberg, a former employee of Applebee’s in Prairie Village Shopping Center was thrilled when it closed. “Applebee’s scarred me for life,” Isenberg said. “They payed me horribly and they weren’t very nice.” Isenberg is indifferent to the fact the Cactus Grill will be opening, but he does know one thing. “I’m never going back into the restaurant business,” Isenberg said. Isenberg will not be applying to work at Cactus Grill. “It doesn’t really affect me that much,” Isenberg said. “But I’m sure other people will enjoy it.”
Over 50 years, PV Shopping Center has leased the corner lot to these businesses:
60
‘ s
Pete Potter’s Department Store
70
‘ s
Adler’s Women’s Clothing
80
‘ s
Kalico’s
90
‘ s
Children’s clothing
Flicks and Discs/ Movie Gallery Movie rentals
00
‘ s
Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill
Superintendent Kaplan announces retirement BY
17
sept. 2007
» lauranelson
Marjorie Kaplan, who principal Susan Swift said has helped Shawnee Mission build its reputation for academic excellence, will retire on July 1 after 16 years as district superintendent. Kaplan, 67, announced her retirement on Sept. 10. “I’ve had an amazingly positive experience as the Shawnee Mission superintendent,” Kaplan said. “It’s a great school district, with a wonderful staff, students, board and community.” A replacement superintendent will not be selected until mid-March, but the Board of Education has begun hunting for a search consultant to help with the application process, Kaplan said. Although Kaplan signed a new three-year contract only two years ago, she chose to break the contract and retire now because “it was the right time.” The Board of Education works with the superintendent to create five-year plans for the district, Kaplan said, and she’s already developed three. The 2008-2009 school year marks the beginning of a new five-year plan, and the Board will name the superintendent just in time to help with the plan’s creation. The Board and the search consultant will speak
with contacts in other cities and place ads in national publications, Kaplan said, ensuring a national applicant pool. Swift said there’s a good chance that the new superintendent will not be from the metro area. Kaplan herself came to Shawnee Mission after eight years in the Paradise Valley school district in northeast Phoenix. Swift credits Kaplan with building the both academic caliber and physical quality of the district. During 16 years, the district has drastically renovated 16 schools and built or is building 14 more, Kaplan said. Additionally, there have been improvements on every school building. Despite the district battling falling enrollment — from 1992 to 2006, enrollment fell from 31,599 to 28,531 students, according to the Kansas Department of Education — five elections have also helped by providing additional funding. Besides physical construction, Kaplan said she has worked to build the district’s academic reputation and quality. She introduced a phonics-based reading program to elementary schools and helped develop a systematic textbook rotation system to ensure that books stay current.
Kaplan also increased the role of the Shawnee Mission signature programs, including the Broadmoor culinary program, the Center for International Studies and Project Lead the Way at South, International Baccalaureate at East and the biomedical program at North. “Dr. Kaplan’s emphasis on education and concern for excellence has made the district incredibly strong,” Swift said. “She believes in recognizing achievers and helping everyone else get to that [more advanced] level.” Kaplan is most proud of her work with the English Language Learners programs. Although Hispanics make up a large part of the ELLs, more than 75 languages are represented. Kaplan focused more on teaching English to non-native speakers and reducing class sizes to help students learn English. Kaplan knows it’s the job of the new superintendent to plan out the next five years, but her future plans are less certain. She has two married children and five grandchildren in Phoenix, so moving to Arizona is a possibility. “At this point, I’m not sure what I’ll do,” Kaplan said. “But whatever I do, I want to keep my mind active, and I want it to be meaningful work.”