MANCHESTER – You can’t beat a good cup of coffee. Members of the small group instructional classes at Manchester Township Middle School know this fact because they have been running a weekly coffee and treat cart for the staff.
Students operate the Mustang Joe’s Coffee Cart as a small business and the staff look forward to enjoying the weekly visit. This month, Mustang Joe’s took their cart to new places and situations to spread some holiday cheer.
Renee Strange and Corinne Stinemire’s small group instruction classes set up the yearly Staff Cookie Exchange with Mustang Joe’s. They also held a holiday autism shirt fundraiser for Mustang Mentors.
Recently, students from Mustang Joe’s welcomed the school district’s bus drivers upon their arrival at MTMS for their dismissal runs. The students set up a complimentary cocoa and cookies cart to wish them happy holidays and thank the school district’s bus drivers for all that they do.
Mustang Joe’s is an opportunity for students in the small group instructional classes to learn many life and business skills. When the staff places an order, or when they are requested at events, this gives the students time to organize, prepare, and fill the orders.
On event day, their classroom is buzzing with students who are busy freshly brewing hot and iced coffee, making lemonade and sun teas, as well as whipping up their special “Room 102 Brew” which is a sun tea/lemonade mix.
No detail is left behind as the ice cubes are customized to the drink, the labels are personalized to the staff member or event, and the cart is themed. Each student has a job such as being a greeter, cashier, delivery specialist, server, and barista.
This brings each student the opportunity to exercise their math, public speaking, socialization, culinary, life/skills, communication, teamwork and so much more.
Supplies for the Mustang Joe’s Coffee Cart are provided to the students thanks to the generous donations made by community members through DonorsChoose. Funds raised by the Mustang Joe’s Coffee Cart are used for more supplies, class trips, and other activities.
