If you are down in Gunston and you smell freshly brewed coffee or a sugary pastry, that must be the Brew-tea-ful Cafe! The Pulley Career Center coffee shop program started up in 2018, and resumed after the pandemic in 2021. Located off of Gunston, The Cafe is run by Pulley Center teachers Christina Byun, Amtul Chaudhry, and Linda Markson.
The program’s purpose is to teach Pulley Center students about running businesses, cooking, cleaning, and marketing. It gives students different roles in a cafe like being cashiers, baristas, runners, and servers. When students leave the program, they are prepared to go into a work environment, especially retail or food service. It prepares them for any job that requires food prep or marketing.
“It gives students opportunities to practice their life skills, but also see if they would want to work in a coffee shop in the food industry after they leave,” said Byun.
When the students arrive at school they get right to work setting up and preparing their work stations. The students are able to see their growth and hard work start to finish, from baking the desserts to selling them to the community.
The students also learn important cleaning skills like washing the floors, cleaning up, working spaces, and washing dishes.
“I would say the most important thing about the program is we’re giving students our opportunity to really take ownership of their roles,” said Ms. Byun
In the cafe, there are drinks including hot coffee, iced teas, hot chocolate, iced coffee, and iced tea. To eat, there is an array of freshly baked pastries such as cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and muffins.
The teachers and students love to see West Po students come and visit the cafe. “I like seeing West Po students coming in and enjoying what we are providing for them,” said Markson.
The Cafe has been a hit, as students and teachers really enjoy coming into the cafe and seeing the students hard at work. “I try to come here at least once or twice a week. It’s really nice, they treat everyone that comes in like their favorite person,” Leena Dechoretz, frequent Cafe customer, said.
