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News & Events

2010-01-29

Maimonides Students, J.P. Licks Collaborate to Help Haitian Children

The founder and owner of the area’s only chain of kosher ice cream parlors is teaming up with Maimonides School fifth and sixth graders on an original project to raise funds for relief efforts in Haiti.

Vincent Petryk of J.P. Licks came to Maimonides Thursday to speak to the students about leadership qualities. Before he left, he accepted a proposal to work with the children to develop an original ice cream flavor, with proceeds of its sales benefiting agencies that help children who were victims of the earthquake.

“We’ll do this together,” Mr. Petryk told the students. Some of the flavors they already have suggested include MaimOreo, Beehive Blast, Minty Swirl Chocolaty Whirl, and Rocky Rambam.

The speaker was invited by Grade 5 teacher Avi Pittleman to visit his “leadership laboratory,” where students have been studying individuals from all walks of life who display qualities that “create change in the world.”

Mr. Petryk described the origin and development of the eight- (soon to be nine) store chain, and the lessons inherent in its success. After receiving a degree in psychology, he took a job as a dishwasher in a Philadelphia ice cream parlor. Soon he was promoted to scooper, then ice cream maker, and ultimately store manager.

One day, he said, he served ice cream to an ill-mannered customer, “and I saw a 50-year old man turn into a little boy.” That, Mr. Petryk said, was a “magic moment… Ice cream touches the hearts of adults and reminds them of their childhood.” He decided to abandon plans to become a family therapist and pursue an ice cream career instead, because the happiness quotient would increase exponentially.

So in 1981, he opened the flagship store in Jamaica Plain. “I’m really happy I made the decision,” Mr. Petryk said. “I wanted to create my own little world, where people were kind, fair and respectful… a place that makes you happy by just being there.”

“Leadership takes courage, imagination and persistence,” Mr. Pittleman pointed out. “With these qualities, leaders can achieve excellence.”

Mr. Petryk added that his business reflects not only these attributes but also “a commitment to social awareness.”

The students cheered and applauded when he said that includes kosher certification for all of his stores. Mr. Petryk said he made that decision because he believes in being “a good neighbor.”

The speaker took time to talk individually with most of the students. He also inspected each of the dozens of posters the fifth and sixth graders made in his honor, and promised to display them in his Newton and Brookline stores.

Mr. Petryk was besieged with questions from the student audience, most of them connected to the numerous original flavors for which J.P. Licks is known (Mr. Petryk said his favorite is Tabasco). In answer to a question, he said the stores make noodle kugel ice cream using a “secret process.”


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