Since December 3, Room 211’s students and teachers have been selling coffee and cookies to Irvington staff. Led by teacher Kala Ghaty, the shop runs from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., teaching the students life and business skills.

On Wednesdays, Mrs. Ghaty, the paraeducators, and students visit each classroom on campus to take coffee orders from teachers. The following day, the students and staff prepare the beverages and cookies while following COVID-19 protocols and use a cart to make deliveries to classrooms. Students rotate weekly through different jobs, such as greeting customers in front of Room 211, pouring beverages, making deliveries, and counting money.

Room 211’s students initially struggled with delivering all the beverages within a short amount of time.

“It was very rough in the beginning, but it got better in the second week,” described Irvington student Kurtis Tam (11).

The coffee shop sells 8 ounces of coffee with or without creamer for $1.50, masala tea for $1.50, cookies for 50¢ each, and seasonal items like hot chocolate for $1.50.

Irvington staff have been overwhelmingly supportive of the coffee shop. Engineering teacher Kristin Berbawy printed a large poster of the menu, free of charge, to further publicize the shop.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for those kids to learn and I like getting coffee on Thursday,” said engineering teacher Ms. Berbawy.

Mrs. Ghaty considers adding healthier options like boiled eggs to the coffee shop menu in response to other teachers’ concerns about nutrition. Additional plans include starting a car wash with her students to continue developing skills.

“In two weeks, we’ve seen so much confidence [from them],” noted Mrs. Ghaty. “Hopefully it will sustain; it will go like this. And we’ll do better and better.”