There was no mistaking they were in the right place, as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting into the hallway led staff seeking a cup of java straight to Room 311 at Parsons High School Monday morning.
This room is homebase to the Special Education Department’s new student run business, The Magic Bean, which will operate every day during first and fifth hour at Parsons High School and during fifth hour at Parsons Middle School from Nichole Helton’s room.
Inside Room 311, one student stood with a latte in each hand, ready to go deliver them to staff in the building. Another student, Cristobal Ortiz, jumped up to serve a customer who entered the room wanting a brewed black coffee. Special Education teacher Emilio Aita guided him on filling the cup, putting on a protective sleeve on the 16 oz. cup, and adding the lid. Ortiz then handed the customer the coffee, collected the money, and offered a courtesy “Thank you.”
Atop the coffee machine sat special cups for espresso and to the right of Ortiz was a tabled filled with special syrups and ice. Beside it was a cart with large bags of coffee.
“Tri-County offered us startup funds if we come up with a business proposal. Tyler Gordon at the middle school really wanted a coffee cart for the teachers, so I am doing it at both schools,” Special Education teacher Nichole Helton said. “I teamed with Emilio Aita here at the high school, so he can run it here in the afternoon while I am at the middle school.”
“We’re offering just one size right now, 16 ounces. We’re offering regular brewed coffee, and hot or cold lattes, so we’ve got a variety of syrups and a couple of different milk choices,” Helton said. “I’ve been testing them out and getting back good reviews.”
Punch cards for either ten brewed coffees or ten lattes are available for sale in room Room 311 at the high school. Only cash or check are accepted at this time. Tax is included in drink prices below.
Latte Punch Cards $32.85
Brewed Coffee Punch Cards $10.95
Espresso Shot Punch Card $32.85
Individual Latte $3.29 Individual Brewed Coffee $1.10
Espresso Shot $3.29.
Helton said she’s been training the students on using the equipment. For instance, she said, she has been training one young man at the middle school to use the milk frother, so while she is working with the hot items, he can prepare the milk.
The business helps the students not only learn skills they can use when they leave high school, it helps them with their social skills.
“It teaches them customer service and skills they can take to some place like Scooters or somewhere and get a job. It helps them be more employable,” Helton said. “They are pretty excited.”
After all expenses are paid, the profits from the business will be used for student rewards. “What that will be really depends on how things go. Once we see what is coming in, if there is enough, I would really like to take them on a field trip at the end of the year,” Helton said. “If it is just a little bit, then we will do monthly pizza parties or something.
They will operate the business every day Helton is at school. If she will be absent, she said she will send out an email and let people know they won’t be open that day.
Aita said high school students have already been approaching him and asking if they can order coffees, too.
For now, that answer is, “No,” but Aita said it is something they might consider farther down the road.
Right now, they are focused on trying to figure everything out and teach the students how to make the cups of coffee, collect the money and handle the punch cards people can purchase. So, if any staff love coffee and helping out a good cause, they can do both by visiting The Magic Bean at Parsons High School and Parsons Middle School and placing an order ahead of delivery times.