At the April 24 opening of Brookville Beans Coffee and Pastry Shop, student baristas Matthew Lundquist, Matthew Kielsczewski, Miles Semilof, and William Haug, proudly cut the red ribbon and started serving hand-crafted iced coffee, tea, and treats to the first 20 guests.
Brookville Beans will be accepting orders at their walk-up window on the Brookville campus Wednesdays and Fridays from Noon–1:30 p.m.
The new coffee shop has been in development for about a year with Transition Services students completing training over the last few months. Learning and skills-building at the shop is part of the Transition Services curriculum for students 14 years and older.
Students take part in every aspect of running the coffee shop including prepping batches of iced coffee and baking cookies, brownies, and rice crispy treats.
“It was awesome,” said Matthew Kielsczewski. “I like putting ice in the cups and then putting the syrups.”
Matthew served each order with a smile. For customers still contemplating what to order, Matthew recommended his favorite treat—chocolate cookies.
“We’re so incredibly proud of our student baristas for this amazing accomplishment,” said Debra Doyle, Senior Director. “Months of hard work, learning, and dedication have led to this wonderful moment.
During the opening, Denise Gaughan, Children’s Education Center Director, shared congratulations to students and staff for reaching this meaningful milestone.
“A little bit about what Brookville Beans is: we had a mission planned to open a shop that simulates real work,” Denise said. “This is a job. This is a real business, so that our young adults who will be transitioning out soon will get a real work experience.”
To run the coffee shop requires students to pick up new skills. Since late fall, students have been practicing making and serving orders from the shop and managing the logistics of prep work and inventory.
In the course of a shift, students learn how to meet challenges, work with our coworkers, money skills, and how to communicate.
With the experience from Brookville Beans under their belt, students will cross the graduation stage with valuable job skills and work experience that will assist them wherever their future leads.
