I love the idea of implementing a coffee cart in my school, but there were logistical problems. I needed a way to make it easy for my staff to get involved and I was concerned about the practicality of offering coffee on my cart. After much brainstorming, I opted to start a treat cart instead and experienced instant success!
The concept is simple. At the beginning of each grading quarter, interested staff pay $5. In exchange, staff will be able to select one snack and one drink off the treat cart every Monday. The cost used to be $7, but I had enough staff enroll that we were able to drive the cost down to $5.
I use to take my students to buy items at the store to stock the treat cart, but the local Costco is past where we can drive and it’s by far the cheapest way to run the treat cart. Now, my highest functioning students are responsible for completing inventory and telling me when to restock an item. I take their list and the money they count out and purchase the items at Costco for them.
We keep all of our snack and drink options on a rolling cart. We glued pictures of the options into a file folder and laminated it. This serves as the menu. Staff who participate have a green frog magnet outside their room. That helps my class find the rooms that participate. We roll the cart to each room and one of my students takes the menu into the classroom. Students are able to ask “What treat do you want?” and staff point to their choices. My students come back into the hallway and fill the order.
What I love about this system is each interaction takes less than 30 seconds. My staff are usually able to spend the 30 seconds engaging with my students and my students get valuable social interaction. My students also maintain inventory, learn about a budget, and get more involved in the school community. My class is now welcomed with open arms. After all, we are the keeper of the cookies. That’s a valuable place to be 🙂