KALISPELL – Flathead High School students are developing the school’s first coffee shop, made by students and for students.
What is now a 12×10 foot space, by next school year, will be a full coffee shop, called South Side Coffee.
Flathead High School business teacher Marti Paugh came up with the idea. It quickly took off and now is completely run by students.
Opening the coffee shop has helped teach students about pricing and business management, as well as leadership and customer service skills.
Paugh tells MTN why developing this coffee shop for students is crucial to their learning.
“This is the one thing that is missing for a lot of our students, as they enter in the workforce, is actual hands on experience. Not every student is going to go out and make coffee but every student is going to have the experience of customer service, money management and just daily operations of a business,” says Paugh.
The students specifically wanted competitive pricing with coffee shops downtown. Drinks will cost around the $2 – $3 range.
Located in the newly-renovated part of campus, senior Shayenn Thompson tells MTN why this hands-on project has been so fulfilling for herself and her classmates.
“I think that’s the most rewarding part is that we all know that we got to do something, not only for ourselves, but for the school and community that will further make it better,” says Thompson.
Paugh tells MTN that grants helped fund the purchase of equipment and tools for the coffee shop. Any money generated from the shop will go towards scholarships and field trips for students.
Reporting by Maren Siu for MTN News
