Cougar Cups warm Central Middle School Fridays

The smell of fresh-brewed coffee will waft down the halls of Central Middle School (CMS) on Fridays this school year courtesy of students who brew and serve coffee and tea to adults who have pre-ordered the beverages.

Dubbed Cougar Coffee Cart, after the school’s mascot, the idea is the brainchild of teachers Debbie Owens and Dianna Butler. The cart took a hiatus last year, but resumed Oct. 11.

While Owens and Butler oversee the entire operation, students fulfill all the roles, the teachers said. Students take inventory, act as cashiers, hostesses and baristas. They also make the coffee and tea, label the drinks, put the lids on the cups and deliver to their customers. And if an order is wrong, the students make it right.

“We try to make it as life-like as possible,” Butler said. “This is a great opportunity for all of our students to learn together and to learn a vocation.”

Cougar Coffee Cart offers students the opportunity to learn some life skills along the way. They learn math, social skills, organization and reading.

The activity also allows students to interact with their peers, Butler and Owens said, since students from their two classes work together on the project.

“It gives students the opportunity to get together with their peers from the other classes,” Owens said.

While students learn some practical skills, Owens and Butler say there is another benefit as well.

“The biggest benefit is the emotional boost it gives the students,” Butler said. “It requires them to communicate. It boosts their confidence.”

Cougar Cart will be available from 8-10 a.m. every Friday that school is in session and offers black coffee, along with a limited selection of specialty coffees and some flavored creamers and tea at the moment. Hot chocolate might be added this winter. Right now, the beverages are offered to adults only, but the teachers are contemplating adding smoothies to the menu later in the year. Students might be able to order those, they said.