At Life High School Waxahachie, students in the REACH class are brewing up delicious drinks and baked goods while learning vital life skills. Kaitlyn Rodriguez, a special education teacher, and Haleigh Boyce, a REACH teacher, formed the Java Dreams coffee shop with help from a grant provided by the Life School Education Foundation (LSEF). The LSEF supports Life School and its mission by providing funds for the Dr. Tom Wilson Scholarship, Legacy Club Scholarship, and classroom teacher grants.
The Java Dreams shop is designed to help students learn valuable life skills through teamwork and customer service.
“We just thought that it would give them the skills to work on talking to people, working with their hands, making coffee, and having a sanitary area,” said Haleigh. “And then we also make it a point that every week they have to meet a new person."
Life Skills students also learn money management. Since they are dealing mainly with cash, Kaitlyn and Haleigh thought that Java Dreams would be a great way for students to learn how to handle money, from giving back change to learning how much they earned at the end of the day. Also, they thought it would be the best idea to rotate the students every week, so they can get a feel for how everything operates and get used to being in each role.
Before Java Dreams opened, the students first had to learn how to run a coffee shop. At the start of the year, students were given the opportunity to take a field trip to Chances Café in Dallas to see how a shop operates.
“Our students were able to see how a coffee shop is run and what goes into setting up equipment, sanitizing your workstation, and interactions with guests,” said Haleigh.
On top of that, they took time at the end of each class to learn how to sanitize their work area and how to clean any machines or utensils.
Java Dreams began operation in September and operates each Thursday throughout the school year, offering a variety of delicious coffees and pastries to help kickstart the morning for teachers and staff.
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Life School is a tuition-free, public charter school with campuses in Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, Mountain Creek, Red Oak, Oak Cliff and Waxahachie, TX. Life School develops leaders with life skills through strong academics, character training, and partnerships with parents and the community. Its mission is accomplished in part through the financial support of donors who provide scholarships and embrace making students ready to learn, ready to lead and ready for life.
Parents who are interested in enrollment can visit lifeschool.net/learn-about-life. Partners who would like to support Life School financially can give online at lifeschool.net/give.
