Grade Level: 9-12
Type Of Project: Work-Based Learning
Context: The high school Life Skills special needs classroom runs a real-life student-run coffee shop that serves all staff in the district and high school students.
Inspiration: The high school special needs teacher was looking for a way to teach her students life skills they can use when they leave high school. She also wanted to bring the students out in the community to learn skills such as grocery shopping, ordering at a restaurant….
Voice & Choice: Students chose the products that are sold in the coffee shop, price items, and choose items to sell seasonally.
Real-World Connections: This is a real coffee shop that the students run. They prepare to open, greet customers, handle real money, track inventory, budget, track the balance, and clock in and out. Their payment is an education. This is a big part of their curriculum. The students also came up with the name, created the décor, and came up with a plan to advertise the products. They even ran a blind taste test to collect data on the products to include on the menu. We brought the students to a local bank, which donated the initial amount that we used to purchase the fundraiser mugs. They worked through a mock small business plan including pitching their idea to loan officers and signed mock loan papers.
The students had to work with the high school principal to come up with a solution that would allow students to bring their drinks into the classroom. According to the student handbook, students are only allowed to bring clear mugs into the classroom. Our students came up with the idea to create a Mug Club. Students could purchase a customized Big Dog’s Coffee Shop clear mug that would be allowed in the classroom. All students who purchase a mug are required to sign a contract stating they will only have coffee shop products or water in their mugs. The students had to follow the Healthy Kids Act state guidelines when planning the products they sell because their main customers are students.
All mugs are marked with student names and are kept in the coffee shop for daily cleaning. Students return mugs to the coffee shop by the end of the day. Coffee shop students clean and organize them. This also acts as a fundraiser that helped us open the coffee shop.
The coffee shop was so successful after the first year that we decided to expand the idea into adding a real running food truck. This took 2 years from beginning planning to opening. Like the coffee shop, they are in charge of everything from grocery shopping with a budget to food prep, recipes, and service. The students conducted a soft opening to test their menu items to staff only with the truck parked across the street from the high school. Now, the food truck caters to business meetings around town and is parked at participating businesses during their lunch breaks. The students track their earnings using a mock bank app called Bankaroo. This tracks the real budget but doesn’t have anything to do with the real bank account.
Standards:
Health: 21.9–12.HL.1-3
Ag Science: FPP.01, 02, 03
Universal Constructs: 21.3–5.ES.1-3