In room 275, a new coffee establishment is taking SHS by surprise.
The Cardinal Brew, started by the Special Education department after winter break, is the newest program for students with exceptional needs to deliver coffee to teachers. Students deliver to educators every Tuesday and Thursday, and for them, it has turned into a new coffee shop.
“They were excited about being able to deliver coffee to a teacher, or hot cocoa to a teacher, because they knew that would make the teacher happy. So they’re okay with the social interaction,” Special Education teacher Amy Honeycutt said. “But they were nervous about ‘How do we read the form?,” ‘How do we make essentially an order form on paper and deliver it and take money?,’ and sell punch cards, or work the punch cards or make the coffee,”
The students went through a trial run before winter break in the first semester at a smaller scale. After coming back, order forms where teachers could fill out what they want delivered were sent out to teachers. Coffee and hot chocolate costs $1 per drink, but teachers can buy a punch card for $20.
“We have consistently (gotten) … either 13 or 14 cups,” Honeycutt said. “Sometimes it’s hot cocoa, sometimes it’s coffee.”
The process of making the drinks goes far beyond just a coffee pot. While hot chocolate is just made with water and cocoa powder, the coffee is made with a percolator.
While the students love to deliver to teachers, according to Honeycutt, Cardinal Brew does more beyond that. Special Education teacher Jennifer Karushis and Honeycutt thought that this would help the students practice with skills for employment.
“(My favorite part is) making the coffee,” senior Haus Siam said.
Though they are technically working, the baristas seem to enjoy the business they are running. In the near future, Honeycutt hopes to continue it.
