Every Monday morning at Boone Elementary, the smell of fresh coffee fills the Fundamentals hallway as teachers, students and the community stop by at the Champaccino Coffee Shop. 

Champaccino, created by Fundamentals teacher Erica Beck, is run by special education elementary students in the fundamentals program in hopes of building confidence and learning to work as a team.

“It’s so important for my kids because I want everyone to see how amazing they are. I want the whole school to know our hallway a little better, because not everyone does,” Beck said.

Beck gained inspiration to start Champaccinos at Boone Elementary from similar coffee shops run by other Special Education departments within HPISD.

“I’ve seen how Hyer has Balto’s Baristas and the high school has Scottie Joe’s,” Beck said. “I thought it would be so great for my kids to learn work experiences and jobs.” 

There are two first graders and two fourth graders currently helping at Champaccino’s coffee. 

“I’m really seeing my daughter’s confidence grow. She loves interacting with everyone that comes in,” parent of Champaccinos student, Lindsay Smith said. “The first week leading up to it, she asked me about it every day,  she was counting down the days, just so excited to go to school.”

The project became possible through the La Fiesta Teacher Innovation $1000 Grant funded by the Highland Park Education Foundation given to Beck last year. 

“I applied last year, came up with a rough budget for what I needed, and wrote about how I’d use it and implement the project. I was awarded the grant, and then I was able to plan out the coffee shop, order supplies and get everything ready to go,” Beck said.

To help run Champaccinos every Monday, Beck along with her four students have two assistant fundamentals teachers.

“Each of us works closely with different students to support their individual needs. One student uses an eye gaze device to communicate, another uses a big mack switch and others handle tasks like making coffee or working the cash register,” Beck said. 

Through these daily interactions, students build confidence, form friendships and learn how to communicate and work together in meaningful ways.

“I either sit out front with the greeters to help pass out menus and money, or I sit at the cash register and support the students there,” Assistant Fundamentals teacher Madison Brown said. “I help them practice social skills like eye contact, counting money when it’s handed to them, saying thank you and using good etiquette.”

The jobs are rotated every week so each student gets the opportunity to try something new and gain new skills.

“I was taking the orders and the money,” first grader Shiloh Smith said. “I was at the cash register last week.”

Before opening every Monday, the students spend time preparing and going over the specific jobs and responsibilities.

“We had two practice runs where people from our hallway came to order. It was a shorter session, but it let them practice their jobs, what to say, and how to interact with customers,” Beck said.

The menu system at Champaccino’s was designed to simplify the ordering process in order to help both the customers and the students working. Each coffee flavor has a corresponding color, which the customer would order by.

“Our menus say ‘order by color please,’” Brown said. “So if someone wants hazelnut, they’ll say, ‘I’ll take a green’. The barista just looks for the green dot and picks that pod. At the register, the student looks at the color on the menu, traces across and finds the price.”

The Champaccino Coffee Shop is open every Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. and has become a highlight for students and faculties Monday morning. The program hopes to continue to grow and to instill lifelong confidence and skills in the students. 

“They’ve absolutely loved it and they’ve learned so much,” Beck said. “Both my first graders have been so excited, counting down the days until ‘Champaccino Day.’ Seeing their teachers and other staff come by has made it even more special for them.”