OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — Osage Middle School students are brewing more than coffee. They’re building the skills they’ll need to land — and keep — their first jobs.
Coffee drinkers with school spirit will put those skills to the test while supporting student workforce development during the SOTO Joe Community Coffee Drive-Up from 8-9 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Osage Middle School.
Customers are encouraged to pre-order their drinks using SOTO Joe’s online order form. Drive-up orders will also be accepted during the event. Customers should follow signs to the back of the middle school for pickup.
What: SOTO Joe Community Coffee Drive-Up
When: 8-9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13
Where: Osage Middle School — follow the signs to the back of the school
How: Pre-order using the SOTO Joe online order form or order during the drive-up.
Why: Proceeds support SOTO Joe while giving students an opportunity to put their workplace and customer-service skills into action.
And these students can handle a morning rush.
The previous two community drive-ups each generated about 60 drink orders, according to teacher Nikki Keeth. Students filled them all within an hour.
For Keeth, however, the coffee has never really been the point.
A Coffee Shop Built To Teach Job Skills
Keeth began developing SOTO Joe during the 2022 school year after looking for a way to give students in her functional-skills classroom practical experience they could take into the workplace.
She spent much of that school year researching, brainstorming and getting feedback from other teachers before launching SOTO Joe during the 2023 school year. Grants helped purchase some of the initial equipment, while teachers, community members and Keeth and her co-teacher also contributed.
The operation started small, with basic coffee, tea and hot chocolate.
Today, students make about 35 drinks for School of the Osage teachers each week, and SOTO Joe has expanded to occasional service at other buildings throughout the district and the Community Coffee Drive-Up.
But before students start making drinks, they learn what it means to have a job.
"We spend a whole week just talking about job skills, like what it means to have a job, what expectations are for certain jobs," Keeth said.
Students learn workplace hygiene, business skills and the different jobs involved in operating a coffee shop. Then they put those lessons into practice.
Keeth's classroom includes students with a wide range of academic, social and functional abilities, mixing students with developmental setbacks with peer models and general education students who help with the program.
The goal isn't simply to find a task each student can already perform. Teachers also look for opportunities to challenge them.
A student who needs help developing social skills may be placed in a position that requires interaction. A student showing leadership potential may get an opportunity to lead. Students with strong social skills can help classmates who are still developing them.
"Each one of our kids has a strength or multiple strengths that they bring to the table," Keeth said.
From The Classroom To A First Job
SOTO Joe has now been around long enough for Keeth to see whether those lessons stick.
Some students from the program's earliest group are now sophomores and juniors. Keeth said former students have reached back out to tell their teachers about getting jobs, including one who landed a job at McDonald's, excelling in a fast-paced environment.Â
Those calls are particularly meaningful when they come from students whose teachers once wondered whether they would be able to hold a job at that young an age.
Now, Keeth said, some are thanking their former teachers because SOTO Joe helped give them the basic skills to enter the workforce.
Meanwhile, the current SOTO Joe crew has become increasingly independent.
Even students with significant challenges have learned the routine well enough that teachers don't constantly need to tell them what comes next, Keeth said.
That's what will be put on display Oct. 13.
Now Bring On The Morning Rush
During the Community Coffee Drive-Up, teachers help direct traffic outside the school while students work inside to fill orders.
Pre-order customers are directed to a designated pickup area. Customers ordering on-site can scan a QR code and submit an order. Inside, Keeth monitors incoming orders while staff members use walkie-talkies to tell the SOTO Joe crew when customers arrive.
It sounds stressful.
Apparently, nobody told the students.
"I would say the kids are not stressed at all," Keeth said. "They enjoy it. They love it."
One of her favorite parts is watching students take finished drinks outside — particularly when the customer waiting in the car turns out to be one of their parents.
Money raised through SOTO Joe goes back into the program, helping purchase supplies, materials and equipment and fund activities for participating students. Keeth said the program has also set a goal of being able to give back to Special Olympics, as the school works toward becoming a Special Olympics Unified Champion School.
What began as Keeth's idea for "some little fun thing" in her classroom has grown well beyond what she imagined.
"I can't believe how far it's gotten at this point," she said. "It's turned into something truly amazing."
