Liberty High School is getting a taste of business with a student-run coffee cart. Every Friday morning, teachers are given the option to order fresh coffee made by students.
What started as an idea from other schools quickly evolved into a hands-on business opportunity, designed to provide students with real-world experience. The coffee cart teaches students valuable lessons about money management, teamwork and social skills.
Brittney Nilles (she/her), TAP specialist at Liberty, got the idea when she went to Marion High School and saw their student-led coffee cart. After bringing this idea to Liberty, Nilles was informed about the Liberty Fund Grant to help her start the coffee cart, and reached out to Verena Street Coffee, which provided the coffee grounds for free.
When working at the cart, students take on various jobs, consisting of espresso brewing, milk frothing or money handling. The goal of these jobs is for students to gain experience so when they go into the real workforce, they know what to expect.
“[The students] get an idea of how the flow will work in a workplace, just getting all those skills like communication, and if they don’t have those skills, how we can help them to obtain those skills,” Nilles said.
As of right now, the money raised from the coffee cart goes back into other ingredients.
“We are hoping to expand to drinks other than coffee because we know not all teachers like coffee. That’s one of our goals,” Nilles said.
Looking into the future, Nilles hopes to involve the class Peer-to-Peer in helping out with the coffee cart and to see it become more student-run.
“I want to see it more student-run and have more student roles, like advertisement and sending out things to teachers so they know we have the coffee cart. Maybe doing specials, like a fall special and winter special,” Nilles said.
Teachers at Liberty: expect to be on the lookout for an email to order and support the coffee cart.
