Brewing Confidence: Union Coffee Cart Teaching Life Skills To Transition Program Students

At Union's Freshman Academy, orders are coming in at their brand-new coffee cart.

Rise and Grind is run by students with disabilities who are in the district's transition program. The transition program at Union Public Schools is for students who graduate with an alternative diploma. It's individualized to meet the needs of each student so they can take the next step into adulthood. Part of becoming an adult is getting a job.

That's why Addie Tipton, transition program teacher, created the coffee cart—to help her students gain the skills they need. She partnered with Not Your Average Joe Coffee to bring the cart to life.

“We make the program and all the things we do in here based on their levels of ability and then that just opens the doors for them to get to the next level, and the next one and the next,” Tipton said. “Their self-confidence and passion just grows, and they are more willing to do things that people would have never expected.”

Alex Henderson and the other students make everything on the menu. Getting every order completed requires everyone to work together.

“We always work as a team; we don't do stuff alone,” Henderson said. “That's what this program is for, to work as a team. We do it—I mean, we are a part of a family."

They even personally deliver each cup, which is Henderson’s favorite part of the whole operation.

“I like to get the money, collect the cash, I am the businessman,” Henderson said.

With every cup of joe they brew, Tipton hopes it brews up something in her students: confidence.

"Just that beaming sense of pride and that feeling of, ‘Hey, I can do this,’” Henderson said.

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