CV life skills class serves up meals

Conestoga Valley High School (CVHS) staff member Jeane Miller proudly displays a group of lunch bags with brightly colored pictures drawn on them in her workspace. "(Tuesday) is my favorite day of the week," said Miller. "These are all my lunch bags." Miller's brown bags were collected when she ordered lunches at the Community Cafe organized and run by the CVHS life skills class.

Kathryn O'Dell, public relations director with the Conestoga Valley School District (CVSD), walks over from the administrative office to pick up her lunch whenever the service is offered. "Every Tuesday they offer lunch as long as its feasible," said O'Dell, who noted that the life skills head teacher Nicole Baker emails a form to the high school staff and the district office usually on a Thursday so that salads and sandwiches can be ordered for the following week. "Salads are Greek, chef, and Caesar," reported O'Dell, who added that sandwiches are also available. "You pick your time slot to pick (your lunch) up." Further options include chips, beverages, and condiments.

CVHS staff member Melissa Garvey often works with the students in the cafe, an area in a hallway near the cafeteria that was once a school store. Recently, Garvey worked alongside Destiny, Derek, Nathaniel, and Maddie. Nathaniel said he is working on his social and math skills as he relays customer orders and makes change. "I am learning how to get quicker at calculating money and sounding more professional," he said.

Derek oversees the addition of condiments to lunches and asks whether customers would like to add a pickle. "My favorite part is asking they want a pickle and if they want condiments," he said. "I get them what they want."

Destiny, who serves as a floater in the cafe, warming up sandwiches, retrieving salads, and filling in for co-workers when needed, also said she enjoys communicating with customers. On Mondays, students take inventory of supplies and grocery shop. Destiny said that her favorite part of working in the cafe is cutting the meat during the Tuesday morning prep work. "We make the sandwiches on Tuesday morning, and we make plenty of them, she stated.

Garvey noted that 25 sandwiches and 15 to 20 salads are generally prepared by six students, and then four students work in the cafe. She noted that the students recently learned a lesson about the placement of a customer's name on the refrigerated salads. "Before, we put the names here," she said, pointing to the top of the container. "But now we put them here (on the side), and it makes it a lot faster to get them." Garvey added that the change was Destiny's idea.

Originally the cafe only sold sandwiches, but customers were asking for salads too. The recent addition of a hydroponics facility, provided by a $180,000 Conestoga Valley Education Foundation grant, will provide lettuce for future salads and sandwiches.

Students also learn problem-solving skills as they deal with issues such as managing the line of customers picking up lunches. "We had to practice patience and how to manage stress this morning," said Destiny. "(We had to learn) to communicate with people quickly without being rude," added Nathaniel.