Life skills students in history teacher Jan Simmons’ class will be opening a cafe. The students will begin serving teachers on October 26 throughout the school day.
“The life skills cafe will change every time we do it,” Simmons said. “This time we will have a chuck wagon, and will be serving any teachers and faculty that wish to participate. We will have chili, cornbread, biscuits and potatoes just like they would have on a cattle trail.”
Each cafe will have a history lesson tied to it. The students will learn to connect real life experience with what they learn in class.
“We are doing this because are studying the westward expansion of the United States,” Simmons said. “We have studied the Trail of Tears and the War of 1812.”
Throughout the year, they will serve different foods and have different theme for the cafe depending on the history lesson. The students create the menu based on the time period and region that they are learning about.
They will also learn to cook and exchange money when people come in to buy something, so it’s a good way to get job skills for them.
— Kristi Rozell
“If it is a specific state that they are studying then they will look at a famous food or dessert the state is famous for,” life skills teacher Kristi Rozell said. “They will study the state bird and flower and that kind of thing.”
Each meal will cost three dollars and fifty cents in order to pay for the ingredients and supplies. The students will learn to shop for the meal, prepare the meal, seat the teachers, take money and make change.
“All of our life skills students will participate, in the ways that they are able to,” Rozell said. “We will have a list and take them to Wal-Mart and shop for the food, do a price check, do a budget for what we can afford compared to what we can sell it for. They will also learn to cook and exchange money when people come in to buy something, so it’s a good way to get job skills for them.”
