Coffee, anyone? Students at Rocky River High School no longer have to make an extra trip to grab a latte in the morning. The school opened a full-service cafe, a project funded through a $40,000 grant from the Rocky River Education Foundation, that gives back to students in many ways.
It’s an on-site opportunity for students to clock the required 250 hours of work time to earn the state’s Ohio Means Jobs seal (obtaining two seals is a graduation requirement).
“We don’t just want the kids to get coffee — we want a resource in place where they can earn community service hours — a place to work so they can graduate from high school,” says Principal Rob Winton.
The cafe is the brainchild of Kristen Kalinowski, who teaches family and consumer science. She grew up in restaurants and saw an opportunity to leverage an under-used commons area. The cafe is separate from the cafeteria and closed during lunch hours, but students can order a cup of coffee before the morning bell rings and during free periods. The school sources coffee locally from Caruso’s — the same supplier for Erie Island Coffee. “We want to use really good-quality coffee so kids will buy it,” Kalinowski says, adding that the top seller is hot chocolate, with the cafe selling about 150 cups per day. The menu also includes chai, refreshers, matcha, hot cider and seasonal coffees.
Cashless payment keeps transactions simple, and all proceeds go back to purchasing supplies, with extra funds funneling into the junior and senior class funds to lower the price of extracurriculars like prom and formals. “With prom tickets typically $100 per person, we were able to get them down to $40 to $50 per person, and I’m hopeful we can get them down to $20 this year,” Winton says.
Sometimes the cafe runs charitable campaigns so students can add a donation to their coffee tab and support efforts like Hurricane Ian relief.
As hoped, the cafe has proven to do far more than serve coffee, and Kalinowski sees potential to use it as a platform for personal finance lessons and budgeting. Already, students in the intervention program are learning transferable life skills like taking inventory, stocking shelves, recording orders and more.
Kalinowski adds, “The Education Foundation is very supportive of teachers and our schools’ projects, and we are thankful for the funding that made this happen.”
