Welcome!

Welcome! The purpose of this blog is to document the journey of Cafe 432, as it has officially launched at SMS. The kids are excited, the staff is excited,  and I am excited (but not because I've already had 3 cups of coffee)! The Cafe will be ran and operated by four students in grades 5-8. These students will be learning and practicing  social skills, math skills, and employability skills. Check the blog for updates  on what's happening in the Cafe, for  photos and videos, as well as to meet the staff!
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Cafe 432 Jobs

One of the big components of Cafe 432 is learning about what it means to be employable and responsible . Many times we talk about how there will be days where we have to do things at work that we don't want to do or even that we don't like to do, but we still have to just do it. Since starting this program, it really shows how much goes into starting a business. The kids have been and will be responsible for just about everything. They have created the order form, made labels and put all of our stock away, they've designed the logo and menu, I.O.U. cards, everything has been up to them! They really are stepping it up to get the Cafe off to a good start. There are four main jobs to make the coffee cart run. While the kids are only assigned one job each week, they will practice and learn each one.  1. Cart Operator: This person is in charge of transporting the coffee on the cart safely (and in a timely matter) from room-to-room, building-to-building.  They may al
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The Cafe is expanding!

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During the last couple of weeks, the kids have been learning about the different types of measuring tools that are used in the kitchen.  We focused on: measuring spoons  liquid measuring cups dry measuring cups Cooking is an important life skill for all of our students to have. Being able to independently make a snack or a meal is HUGE! Plus, there are so many other academic skills that can be worked on while cooking, such as reading and math. W e talked about how the three types of measuring tools are all similar, and yet so different! After some practice, they put what they learned into action and made the first Cafe 432 snack, trail mix. This allowed them to practice reading a recipe, and following step by step directions.  While we were out selling coffee, the kids got to hand out samples to the staff members at all three buildings. This provided the kids with so many opportunities to interact with staff who are not coffee drinkers, which then prompted even more con
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These Last 30 Days

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"You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so....get on your way!" -Dr. Seuss  So much has been happening in the Cafe in these last 30 days! The students have been working SO hard and have impressed me every single day. The big skill area of focus has been money...this includes identifying money (we even got our first $2 bill!), counting money, giving change back, and solving addition problems involving money.  Within these last 30 days, the bar was raised, and the students met the expectations without even blinking. Our two biggest accomplishments include..... Exactly one month ago was Veteran's Day. Every year our school puts on a wonderful ceremony honoring our local heroes. Afterwards, the Veteran's are invited back to the high school cafeteria for coffee and breakfast. This year (shout-out to the wonderful high school kitchen staff for being so welcoming and helpful!) Cafe 432 was able to serve coffee to all of our
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