The aroma of Saturday morning wafted out of room N205. What was going on? Round the corner and see - it’s the Sweet Times Café!
The pop-up café, hosted by Maria Mellon’s Life Skills class, is a super fun and multi-faced opportunity for her students to flex their interpersonal skills and their job skills. “Each of our students takes classes at BOCES Career and Technical Center,” said Mellon. “This is one way we put what they are learning into action.”
The café was open for a private event—Charles Morales-Thompson’s class came for breakfast during second period.
The room was set up buffet style. Tyler greeted students at the door. Zef and Drew had flipped French toast and pancakes to perfection moments before on the classroom griddles, and were serving custom orders with Karr. Karr had already designed the menu in Canva. Ellie, the barrista, was overseeing beverages.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked their first customer. Moments later, she handed it to them. “Be careful. It’s hot. It’s freshly made with love.”
Sweet Times Café’s success was weeks in the making. The planning included a research expedition to Dunkin Donuts and grocery shopping at the Green Way Market. The students also came up with the name!
Mellon and her colleagues—on-site supervisors Desiree Braxton, Lisa Cirillo, Jackie Crispino, Roseanne LaForte, Donna McNamara and and Gretchen Stein—are committed to connecting students with real-world experiences including internships and employment opportunities. Drew, who is serious about cooking, has kitchen experience at several local restaurants and just started at Bacio. Ellie will begin leading story time at the Country Children’s Center next week. Will and Brandon have jobs at the Community Center in Katonah.
After Morales-Thompson's students rounded the buffet, the servers took off their aprons and filled their plates. Everyone sat down to eat together.