The Friendship Cafe at Lakewood High School is a small cafe run in C121 every Friday. The Friendship Cafe offers a variety of drinks, including apple cider, coffee, and hot chocolate, as well as numerous sweet treats for the Lakewood High School staff to purchase with cash. The cafe was created three years ago by staff members Stephanie Severino and Christa Holt and is run by a few other teachers and students. This effort represents hours of student effort, teamwork and skill-building as part of Lakewood High School’s M.I.L.E.S. program, Moving to Independent Learning for Employment and Success.
The Friendship Cafe was created for M.I.L.E.S. students to “get them used to working with money and employability skills, so they can take all of that and prepare for a job,” said Severino. The students who work at the Friendship Cafe are part of Severino’s Transition to Work program. This cafe gives students the opportunity to practice skills such as customer service, organization, time management and problem-solving. These experiences mirror the expectations of many real workplaces and help students feel better prepared as they navigate life beyond high school.
The students in the M.I.L.E.S program work hard every Friday to help set up the Friendship Cafe by arranging tables, displaying pastries and treats and even putting together a small coffee station with sugar and creamers to add to your hot chocolate and coffee. The students create a warm and welcoming environment every week, with many different staff members visiting and purchasing from them.
During the week, before Friday, Students in the M.I.L.E.S program spend time in their classrooms making dog treats, bath salts and even soap to sell at the Friendship Cafe. Staff members volunteer to make the baked goods, and the entire cafe comes together throughout the week until it is open for all of the staff to enjoy.
While the cafe is open on Friday mornings, students take on different roles. Some stay at the cashier, while others are in charge of preparing drinks and food. “My favorite part of running the Friendship Cafe is being the cashier,” said Rebeca Sever, a student who is part of the M.I.L.E.S. program. In these moments, students practice communication skills, learn how to handle a business and gain confidence when interacting with adults. Each interaction helps build their independence and prepares them for the future.
Teachers and staff members have shared that they enjoy stopping by the Friendship Cafe. “I think it’s great to get our students the opportunities to interact with colleagues, students, work the cash register, and work on making the coffee. It gives them the tools that they can use outside of school,” said Brent Schremp, a Lakewood High School principal and customer.
The crew running the cafe has considered expanding it beyond C121, like how the Special Olympics have done fundraisers where they have booths that sell their merchandise. At the moment, The Friendship Cafe won’t be expanding to the rest of the school. “Right now it will probably stay in the classroom, because I feel that if we were to go into the cafeteria concessions, that might be a little bit too much,” said Severino. Even though the cafe isn’t quite ready to expand, they are expanding their menu to begin selling iced coffee soon for the staff, and they’re considering expanding the cafe in other ways in the future.
Opportunities like the Friendship Cafe are what make Lakewood High School so special. During the school year, days can become repetitive, but the cafe allows for Fridays to be a day where students can experience something special and build connections with different teachers and students. It is also meaningful for staff as they can go visit the Friendship Cafe to buy homemade treats and warm beverages before they start their day.
