Washington West Elementary’s Snack Cart has been popular in the building since 2017.
It’s a way for Tracy Niccum’s students to learn valuable lessons beyond the classroom, and have fun while doing it.
The goal was to introduce students to beginning job skills, such as following multi-step directions, working together as a team, reading and filling orders, counting and exchanging money, and interacting with customers.
It’s a similar concept to the Cocoa Café at Washington High School.
It started out by learning how to make coffee, hot chocolate and tea, as well as matching orders for pre-packaged snacks and drinks. This year, they decided to sell pre-packaged snacks and drinks only in order to stay safe within the COVID guidelines.
Teachers and staff fill out a google form each week and then every Friday, the orders are put together by participating students and delivered around the school to everyone on the staff who ordered.
“This project has been an amazing learning experience for our students and is something they look forward to each week,” said Washington West Elementary Assistant Principal Glenda Leslie. “The learning experiences it has provided and the opportunity to interact with so many staff members within their school has helped to build their confidence and established a real-world connection to the skills being taught.”
The money that is collected is used to continue funding the snack cart. Occasionally the workers receive tips that are saved and used for special celebrations to recognize all of the students’ hard work.
Photos of the Snack Cart at Washington West Elementary are below.
