Troy Special Ed students run Coffee Cart program

The students in Maggie Klebenow’s Special Education Life Skills class certainly have their ducks in a row when they set up their Coffee Cart assembly line on Fridays.

Students who pass the cups down the line are assigned to dispense the coffee and hot chocolate into prelabeled cups, add creamer or sugar when requested, stir and cap, line the cups up on a cart, deliver the drinks to the appropriate W.B.O. staff members and collect the money. All of this with a friendly, “Have a nice day,” concluding the transaction.

“Our program teaches them life skills,” Klebenow said. “For our coffee shop specifically, we focus on functional job-based and transaction skills. My students get the opportunity to interact with each other and adults in our building. We very much treat it like a job. We encourage them to use their manners and follow expectations. If they do a good job, they earn a ‘paycheck’ that can be cashed in for classroom money to work towards buying a prize.”

Klebenow said this school year’s program began in December and is going very well.

“My students love it,” she said. “They get very excited when they learn how many orders they get each week, and they enjoy interacting with other teachers and staff in the building.”

Teaching assistant Saima Malik also assists with the Coffee Cart. W.B.O. general education students rotate in during the period to help, as do other staff, such as speech pathologist Emily Filotto and teaching assistant Savannah Smith.

William B. Orenic Intermediate School is a Troy Community School District 30-C school.