Student-run coffee cart helps Compton Elementary School students learn teamwork and inclusion
At Compton Elementary School in Powder Springs, math teacher Caleb Garrett turned a love of coffee into a program that's building community inside his school. What looks like a classroom at first glance is actually a coffee shop project with a bigger purpose.
At the Compton Coffee Café, the baristas are pint-sized, and the store manager is also a math teacher.
The Compton Coffee Café is a student-run coffee cart where fifth graders team up with classmates with special needs to deliver iced coffee to teachers throughout the school.
"So S is strawberry, P is peach, and R is raspberry," Garrett tells students as they prepare drinks.
The project was started by Garrett and special education teacher Elizabeth Evans.
Teachers place their orders online, and students prepare the drinks before delivering them throughout the building.
"Here's your coffee!" one student says while handing off a drink.
For the teachers receiving them, the deliveries are just as sweet as the drinks themselves.
"Thank you!" one teacher says.
"Best day ever!" another adds.
Evans said the program has had a meaningful impact on students who participate.
"This has such a great impact. So, when our kids walk around the school, other children are recognizing them. They're saying hello and they're building that natural communication in that really safe environment," Evans said.
For the fifth graders working alongside them, the project is also a lesson in teamwork and acceptance.
"It's so fun because we get to talk to each other, and we get to talk to the other teachers when we're delivering to them," said Alani, a student.
And when things don't go perfectly, Garrett uses those moments as teaching opportunities.
"It's okay to reset," Garrett said.
Fifth grader Alani remembers a moment when she accidentally spilled a drink.
"I was upset that I spilled it, and he had told me just like, it's okay… "It's just a little mistake," she said.
For Garrett, the program is about more than coffee.
"Just to think about how do we treat others that maybe are different than us … just building that community and spreading kindness throughout the world," Garrett said.
The coffee sales also help fund opportunities for students. Money raised from the café helps pay for field trips for classmates who might not otherwise be able to afford them.
"Last year, we got to downtown Atlanta, and one of the students just shouts on the bus, 'I didn't know they could make buildings this big,' and just being able to give them those moments and opportunities is so, so, so exciting and heartwarming," Garrett said.
Garrett also encourages students to take time for themselves, reminding them during class to pause and breathe.
"Deep breath in!! Let go of anything that's on your mind!" he tells them in class.
Students say those moments matter.
"It helps us. Like it helps me feel much better," one student said.
Whether students are solving equations or learning to make the perfect latte, Garrett believes they are capable of more than they think.
"Give them the opportunity, and they will crush what you had set as an expectation for them," Garrett said. "This is our next generation, and we have to not only treat them with kindness but inspire them to be the best versions of themselves."
At Compton Elementary, that confidence is growing — one cup, and one student, at a time.
People who want to support the school's fundraising efforts can donate online here.