St. Michael Students and Faculty Fuel up at St. Michael High School's New Coffee Shop

St. Michael High School's new Sword and Shield coffee shop is the hub where students, faculty, and guests find a friendly atmosphere while they recharge their day. People line up for a cup of joe and sweet treat to smooth the tangles out of a rough day, sharpen their focus to take exams, and socialize.

The coffee shop is run by students in the school's Strong Warriors of Resilience and Determination (SWORD) program. The program emphasizes collaboration among educators, families, and students to create a pathway for students with diverse abilities to access a wider range of academic and extracurricular opportunities. This fosters a sense of belonging in a community.

The Shield and Sword coffee shop serves as a practical learning environment for students to gain hands-on business and life skills, fostering community, and teamwork.

"The idea of having a (student-run) coffee shop is something I've always been interested in," said Jared Cavalier, St. Michael High School Principal. "There's something about the community that tends to happen when people sit together and drink coffee."

After a soft opening at the beginning of the school year, and with the support of sponsor River Roads Coffee, the coffee shop is in full swing. Faculty and students have conveyed that they wait until they get to school to grab their first cup of coffee of the day.

The Sword and Shield Coffee Shop is a popular place for students, faculty, and guests to grab a cup coffee to give their day a boost. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic CommentatorThe students develop customer service skills, such as how to politely greet and interact with people and work together as a team in a vibrant business. 

"I like making people happy," said sophomore Caden Tompley ... "I work on making eye contact, using a polite voice and always having a smile."

Audrey Avery said of her experiences, "It's changed me. It's made me a better version of myself."

Junior Alyssa Loya is among the mentoring students who assists and encourages the SWORD students at the coffee shop. Because she has a brother with autism, she appreciates that teachers understand that the collaborative work with special needs students and the SWORD program effectively helps them.

"The training was fun because we got to meet the SWORD students and branch out of our little circle," said Loya.

She enjoys seeing the SWORD students develop their practical and social skills.

"I remember the first day everyone was having to look at their paper scripts, and now they know it by heart, and they are social and polite," said Loya.

The students entice people to add sweets to their order by saying such things as, "The cinnamon rolls are to die for."

The school's food lab is experimenting with recipes for baked goods to sell during the holidays, featuring turkeys for Thanksgiving, decorated trees and candy canes for Christmas, hearts for Valentine's Day, etc. 

Shea Woodring, Reine Babin, Donna Gainey, and Tiege Manuel serve as the support staff of the Shield and Sword.

Woodring said the students make sacrifices and adjustments as they work different shifts before school, during lunch hours, or after school.

"That's a skill you need for every aspect of your life," said Woodring.

She has seen the impact that serving in the coffee shop has on the SWORD students.

"One of the (SWORD) students just stepped into a leadership position and has so much confidence, which is different than what we saw last year," said Woodring. "He got up in front of the new teachers and made them feel good with some 'sunshine bags.'"

The "wingmen," or mentoring students, are also empowered.

"The mentoring students can jump in when they see the kids are struggling, and they can talk to them in different ways than we do. It's a blessing to see Jesus working through them," said Woodring.