These Last 30 Days

"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 local Veterans and their families. The kids worked hard, kept up with the coffee services, and showed respect to all who attended the breakfast.

Last Wednesday, we ventured north to Dekalb, Illinois, and attended a class at NIU. There, we were greeted with smiles from a class of future special education teachers, who helped us carry the coffee cart up a flight of stairs. 

Once inside and setup, the kids got to serve coffee to a class of college students, college professors, and college deans! Each student had their assigned job for the day, and each gracefully carried out their duties. Once the college students all had their coffee, Ms. Scott and I were able to present a quick presentation about how the coffee cart works. NIU students were then able to ask questions, and all of our Cafe kids were able to help us answer their questions. The kids then served a puppy chow snack (that they made the day before) and after some visiting, we were on our way back to the middle school, with the kids begging for us to turn around and take them back to NIU. We could not have been more proud of  the kids,  as they did not let their nerves, fear, or uncertainty get in the way of stealing the show and blowing us away! 

 If this was what our last 30 days looked like, I can't wait to see what the next 30 look like! 






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