OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio — Ottawa Hills junior and senior high school students were able to grab a coffee inside their new learning center, The Foundry, last year. Now, in 2023, the Steam Cafe will be an entirely student-run operation.
The STEAM Cafe was previously operated by the University of Toledo's Brew Coffee Bar.
But this year, Ottawa Hills leaders wanted to hand the reins of the cafe over to their students.
"Accounting, finance, supply chain; all of the core areas of business as well as being a barista," Ottawa Hills business education teacher Randall Johnson said. "To have some experiential learning happening right here in our new innovative space, our students are really excited to take charge and ownership over this."
The initiative is open to any student in grades 7-12.
The student baristas went through health and safety orientation Tuesday, while also learning how to brew coffee. The students are not being paid for their work; instead, they will be earning volunteer hours and gaining the real-world experience of having a job.
"I know that a lot of students have had jobs, but there's also a lot of students who haven't had jobs," STEAM Cafe student manager Elizabeth Alamina said. "This is a good first job in a school setting where you can build those soft skills and communication skills with one another."
The cafe acts as a fundraiser for The Foundry, with all proceeds raised going back into the center's programming.
The school year will begin with 15-20 student baristas staffing the cafe, but the hope is to eventually increase that number to 40.
With fellow students running the show, school leaders think more students might be more inclined to participate.
"Go see your friend at the counter, or support a sports team through a fundraiser. Things that we're going to be able to do this year because we took the operations in-house, so I think students are going to be a lot more excited, a lot more engaged." Johnson said. "I think it's going to do a lot for both the students behind the counter and just the rest of the student body that gets to see that happening."
