Students in Sara Campbell’s class at Cedar Drive Middle School serve coffee and sweet treats to their peers, teachers and staff with Cedar Café.
COLTS NECK – Special needs students at Cedar Drive Middle School have been serving up coffee to their peers while honing key social and independence skills for the past year at Cedar Café. They can now continue to do so thanks to fundraising efforts by local community members.
What started as an idea from special needs teacher Sara Campbell has grown into a successful coffee cart program for the special needs population at the middle school. Now, through a partnership with Bitty and Beau’s Coffee and Monmouth County Career Center, students sell hot beverages and freshly made bakery treats each week.
“Having the coffee cart has allowed the students to develop their ability to work cooperatively. They had to work as a team to be successful,” said Campbell. “Their social skills soared. It is one thing to practice social skills in a classroom, but it is hard to transfer those skills to real-life situations.”
A parent of one of the children in Campbell’s classroom recently organized a GoFundMe page to benefit Cedar Café. The $1,600 fundraising goal was met and exceeded in two days; now totaling $1,650, it will allow organizers to purchase a new coffee cart for the students.
Campbell expressed gratitude for contributors and said she was “thrilled” that they reached their goal so quickly. “When I found out about the organization (Bitty and Beau’s Coffee), I contacted Patricia Ronca, the mother of one of my students and asked for her help. She graciously took on the project and within two days our community had the money raised. It was amazing. I am grateful to be part of this community.”
After serving as an elementary education teacher in the Colts Neck School District for about 16 years, Campbell was assigned to begin a Language and Learning Disabled (LLD) class at Cedar Drive Middle School in 2017-2018. “I was really excited for the challenge,” she said. “After a lot of preparation over the summer, I knew I wanted to center my instruction around function and service. By focusing on functional academics, my students were fulfilling their academic requirements while gaining skills that would promote their independence and autonomy.”
Cedar Café first opened in 2018 and was a “very piecemeal business to start,” she said. After obtaining an old computer cart and a $200 mini-grant from the Parent Teacher Organization, the café was ready to open. Students originally sold coffee, tea, hot chocolate and store-bought treats, but that changed when Campbell connected with Monmouth County Career Center, a high school in Freehold with a shared time program for disabled students.
“After completing their academics at their home high school, they would attend the Career Center to focus on learning skills for a trade, one of which is baking,” said Campbell. “Upon partnering with them, we now sell hot beverages and delicious fresh-made bakery treats with success every week.”
She and paraprofessional Lori Press were constantly looking for new ways to upgrade the cart, Campbell said. That’s when they came across Bitty and Beau’s Coffee and found its coffee cart program. Many of the supplies that came along with it were an upgrade for Cedar Café, such as a new coffee maker, condiment holder and Bitty and Beau’s k-cups. “But the biggest draw was monthly video calls with Bitty and Beau employees to discuss our business and strategies to improve,” she said.
When the café first opened last year, it had three student participants as part of the curriculum of the LLD classroom. It has given the children experience in an authentic atmosphere. “I am able to observe the students’ interaction and plan lessons around their needs,” Campbell said. “Most importantly, the students felt important. They felt like part of a community, they became part of the community, a community that fully welcomed them.”
The café sees little profit each week, but what they get is given back to the community. Last May during Mental Health Awareness month, Campbell said the students researched foods that have a positive impact on moods and organized a yogurt parfait bar in the faculty room for the staff. Students have also organized free raffles for teachers, have sent Valentine’s Day cards and gifts. They have also helped sort and bag holiday meals for the less fortunate.
“For some of the students, this was the first time they were of service rather than needing service,” Campbell said.
