Metcalfe County School’s Student Café
Students who attend Metcalfe County High School have an exciting opportunity to earn credits towards graduation: working in The Student Café. At the Café, students make donuts, parfaits, and salads that are available to the community to purchase, all while learning underlying workforce skills. This initiative provides a way in which students who struggle in the traditional classroom could continue on the path to graduation, while gaining valuable skills and providing an incentive to strive for academic success.
About the Student Cafe
BRADD sat down with Allen Trotter, Director of Pupil Personnel, to learn more about the Student Café and how it came about. About its formation, Trotter stated, “A couple of years ago we were having some issues with our students performing in a traditional setting. It just wasn’t working and we came up with some ideas of what could work. We had an empty area in one of our buildings, a kitchen, that used to be part of the old high school. When we moved out, it was just sitting empty. Our superintendent at the time had asked what we could do about putting them in a different situation than just sitting in Math or English class. We knew we still wanted to continue with the acquisition of credits towards graduation, but we wanted to create something for them that would allow for a “why.” Give them a reason to want to behave, to perform well academically, and hopefully learn some employability skills along the way. It really came about because we do not have an alternative school and we needed something to help with our kids that just were not successful in the traditional classroom.”
roadbumps on the way to success
At the beginning of the pandemic, like most businesses, the Café had to shut down, but has since reopened to the public. A major issue that has plagued the Café has been the same supply chain issues that have affected grocery stores and other restaurants. According to Trotter, “We’ve had trucks where maybe 60% of the order did not come in. We’ve had to scramble to find other vendors and suppliers, even going to pick up the items directly.”
Another issue facing the Café is a steady supply of reliable employees. Trotter stated that the Café was “intended to be a service learning type-of-deal.” So students would have at least some classroom responsibilities but the students have struggled with implementing these skills. Often students get into the Café, experience the stress of working and say, “I’m good! I think I’ll stay in traditional classrooms!”
The Café has also had challenges with finding reliable students who consistently show up to work. To address these issues, Trotter, along with a grant writer, are working to secure funds to assist in paying the students a wage that is comparable to similar jobs within the community.
Implementing a Similar Idea in your Own Community
Despite the problems with punctuality, students who work in the Café learn skills that may be hard to teach in a traditional classroom setting. The Café does attempt to work with students so the importance of showing up to work is stressed. In addition students learn to collaborate with other students, learn how to dress appropriately for a job, and learn a positive work ethic and many soft skills that will help them later in life. “You don’t really think about [these skills] in the classroom because [in] the situation it’s not as relevant,” says Trotter.
Overall, in order to implement a similar project, one needs to prioritize the sustainability aspect. It’s one thing to get the project started with the initial momentum and excitement, but it’s another thing to keep that momentum going. Trotter advises that, “You have to have something that people want to be a part of. You have a good product, people that are welcoming, and people that want other people to be a part of this project.”
