Grove School Launches a New Vocational Enterprise

Earlier this year, Grove was presented with an exciting opportunity to take over the operations of a local food truck, “The Coffee Depot”. We decided to bring it on campus and develop a vocational program to teach and employ our students as well as provide an on campus “café.”

Both high school and post-graduate students are actively employed in the food truck, experiencing the opportunity to learn and practice transferable vocational skills on a daily basis. Students are instructed and supported by staff as they gain hands-on experience in the realms of food handling and safety, customer service, organizational tasks, and money management, among other skills. Recently, students have played a role in catering to various campus events such as the January Student Coffee House and Female Residential “Galentine’s Day” celebration. Students have expressed that their involvement in this way offers them a greater sense of involvement in the Grove community. Likewise, students and staff alike have offered positive feedback and appreciate of the program’s efforts!

In addition to student employment at Coffee Depot, this trimester we are offering the Coffee Depot Small Business Workplace Experience– an academic course designed to complement the hands-on vocational opportunity. The course provides students with knowledge, skills, and practice in the various areas in which student employees have the chance to experience in the truck, in addition to a more in-depth, content-based curriculum about small business design, management, marketing, and operations. Students in the course have recently been excited to develop materials to promote “special offerings” by Coffee Depot, such as “Free Coffee Day” and “National Bagel Day”. They’ve also expressed an interest in playing an active role in improving sales of the business, developing a ‘Coffee Survey’ for distribution in the community, and compiling suggestions for future menu options.

Coffee Depot looks forward to continued growth of both the vocational and academic program, as our opportunities are projected to blossom with the coming Spring!