Washington Tech's Eagle Cafe Serves Coffee and a Smile

On any given morning on the second floor of Washington Technology High School, between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., you can find an eager group of students ready and waiting to serve a hot cup of Joe and a friendly greeting. At the Eagle Café, school staff can get their morning jolt of caffeine (coffee or tea) and choose from a variety of treats like biscotti or cookies to go with their beverage. All of this comes served with a smile by Washington 12th grade student and Cafe Manager, Bubba (Saih Ply Moo), and the rest of her fabulous team of baristas.

Headed up by SPED teacher, Michael Shepperd, the idea for the cafe began back in May 2023 was in May 2023 with a "Sharktank" style presentation by the students to the principal. Each student had a research topic and a role in the presentation. After a successful presentation, the program received seed money of $1000 from the "Head Shark" (Principal Oguz) through a grant-funded district account. 

The Eagle Café served the first cup of coffee on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The offerings have slowly expanded, even offering delivery service to other areas of the school.

Since its inception, the Eagle Café has garnered significant attention and popularity. "Witnessing the pride and success of the students involved is truly inspiring," said Principal Elias Oguz.

The program offers students in the Federal 3 ASD/DCD program an opportunity to practice real-life skills like greeting, serving, counting money, creating signage, and taking feedback, something Shepperd believes is essential skill-building for their future.

A teacher with a big heart and even bigger ideas, Shepperd already has plans to include even more ways for students to apply useable, real-world skills with a future garden at Washington.

"We have begun our planting and learning about what it takes to create a garden. In the plan, we have a space for a sensory garden, vegetable garden, and outdoor classroom space, and we are hoping to incorporate solar panels to power a pondless waterfall," Shepperd said.

"Next year, students will learn about hydroponics to continue gardening year-round. All of these activities will expand our offerings for learning daily living and work skills. Adding hydroponics and solar panels will further connect our classroom to the Washington BioSMART focus (Biological Science, Math, Academic Rigor, and Technology)."

When asked what they like most about working at the Eagle Cafe, one student said, "I like pouring coffee and helping people."

Another said, "I like running the register and counting the money." 

Next steps for this ambitious group of students? They want to reinvest some of the cafe profits back into the business to continue to build it further. After that, they hope to take some of the funds to go on a field trip to the Mall of America.