Through the Coffee Cart Business Project, students with multiple disabilities will be able to take an active role in their community. Pine Hill Middle School teachers Jennifer Zane and Lauren Canonica were awarded a $2,225 grant from the Hipp Foundation to get the coffee cart business off the ground.
The goal of the project is to teach students the skills necessary to operate a small business from taking orders to delivering products to keeping the books. Orders will be collected throughout the week and coffee will be delivered to staff members throughout the school on Friday mornings by the students. Students will learn to create a budget and track sales, handle money, create sales reports using a graphing website, and determine future purchases based on the popularity of certain products. Students will develop social skills through their interactions with customers/teachers, and as they encounter others while they travel throughout the school making deliveries. Through the use of Google classroom, Google docs, and Google sheets, students will learn 21st-century technology skills on the computer.
Teachers and assistants will monitor the budget and finances of the coffee cart and use Google sheets to maintain the financial records. Any profit made through the sales from the coffee cart will be reinvested into the business and used to fund class trips.
For more information, contact:
Jennifer Zane
(856) 220-0100 (Pine Hill M.S.)
(609) 977-8711 (Home)