On Fridays, the teachers and staff at Lyons Middle/High School have been getting a caffeine boost this year from students in Mrs. Erica Gansz’s Leadership Class through their work with the Coffee Cart.
“The Leadership Class operates the project as a way to create ongoing self-sustaining funds and increase staff morale,” Mrs. Gansz said. ”Students gain valuable skills in scheduling, conflict resolution, responsibility, interpersonal relationships, transactional experiences, spreading positivity and — of course — the real-life skill of making coffee.”
The Coffee Cart runs on Friday mornings from about 8:00 AM to about 9:30 AM.
The Coffee Cart offers hot coffee with a variety of creamers, hot tea, hot chocolate and chocolate milk. Students are responsible for creating the work schedule, showing up to their assigned shifts, making arrangements with their teachers as needed to make-up work, all prep, set-up, and clean-up work, Mrs. Gansz said.
Occasionally, students also dress up and/or decorate the cart according to the season for a little bit of extra fun.
Evie Groom, a senior in the Leadership Class who manages the schedule for the Coffee Cart, said learning to juggle students’ availabilities and preferences to make sure the Cart is fully staffed has been a huge learning opportunity.
“When I was in Leadership Class last year, I worked with the Coffee Cart in a smaller role and I just showed up when I needed to,” Evie said. “This year, I have a bigger role of making the schedule every week and it has taught me a greater sense of responsibility.”
Melanie Bullock, a junior in the Leadership Class, said she’s gotten a huge confidence boost from learning how to speak with adults while working the Coffee Cart.
“I’m not very good when it comes to talking to adults,” Melanie said. “Coffee Cart helped me because I had to talk to adults every friday. It got easier with time, since I was talking to adults over and over again. I slowly started getting more comfortable with that important skill of conversing with others.”
Though Melanie wasn’t a coffee drinker before (and said she still hasn’t found a fondness for it) she said she’s enjoyed learning about the process of making it anyway.
“My favorite part about it all has been learning all the skills that come with it,” Melanie said. “Obviously, talking to people, but also I had no idea how to make coffee beforehand! Now I do.”
