SPOKANE, Wash. — The Shadle Park High School "Bagpipers Bistro" is brewing coffee, and success, for its students.
"We do coffee, Lotus, chai, chai lattes, Italian sodas..." said Kyle Scott, a Shadle Park High School senior who works at the school coffee shop. "You have to be able to communicate very well, which is super important in a job... the skills it gives you can help you land a real job."
The coffee shop is located inside the high school and functions as a "learning lab" where students get hands-on experience and opportunities to apply what they're learning in the classroom.
"It's providing that real on-the-job experience for students that take the store operations and management course through our marketing program," said Erin Ruehl, a business and marketing teacher at the high school. "Everything from getting their food handlers cards to making sure we're set there, understanding all the sanitation, safety and health, to learning how to pull a shot correctly steamed milk and make the different coffee drinks."
The students run the shop entirely independently, dividing responsibilities like taking regular inventory, creating new menu items and coming up with promotions.
"They're in charge of it all, and also really working as a team to provide good customer service," said Ruehl.
The money the coffee shop earns supports the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) clubs, which allows those clubs to compete at state and national levels.
"I really hope they walk away with a set of 21st-century skills that they can transfer to any career pathway that they choose to follow in the future," said Ruehl.
Ruehl estimates that around 350 students have worked at Bagpipers Bistro over the years.
Ferris, North Central and Rogers High Schools also have similar student-run shops.