The scent of fresh brewed coffee filled the hallway at Rose Hill Elementary School, as young baristas worked to fill orders from walk up and online customers.
The coffee shop, “Cozy Coffee,” was the idea of students from third, fourth and fifth grade, whose project was to develop a business. Students had to develop a mission statement, create a logo, advertisements, research charities, develop a menu and create a website for their business. They even made a “food truck” out of cardboard to make deliveries to teachers in their classrooms.
The students offered coffee, hot chocolate and sweet treats for sale to Rose Hill staff January 23rd. The students will donate all the proceeds from the sale to help the family of a fellow student who is ill and has medical needs.
Fourth grader Celeste said her favorite part was making coffee for the teachers, but they learned a lot during the project too. “We learned about counting money. We learned a lot about businesses, like you need a logo, a business plan, and you need to focus on what materials you’ll need,” she said.
Angie Bowersox, gifted intervention specialist, guided the students during the project.
“I always tell my students I'm like the cruise ship director. I give them the criteria but they get to use their creativity to make that criteria come to life. Kind of like how the cruise ship director gives you an itinerary, but you get to choose your activities,” Mrs. Boxersox said.
“They exceeded my expectations on this project. The best part was seeing their empathy, compassion, and determination to help a student in need.”
Mrs. Bowersox said students at Taylor Road Elementary also developed a coffee shop business and voted unanimously to donate all their profits to the same Rose Hill student’s family.