Panther Cafe serves up treats
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CONNORVILLE -- The newly established Panther Cafe is giving students in Luke Fabry's Foods 2 class an opportunity to put their skills to use while serving staff and students a menu of beverages and homemade treats.
The coffee bar is located in the former media center and includes a newly installed counter created by Fabry plus tables and even delivery service. The site operates throughout most of the day every day with students serving as managers and workers. Fabry said orders are made through Google Classroom but will be done through a point-of-sales system. The concept began in late October and has proven to be successful.
"We have a uniform and passes so they can deliver to classes. Students and staff may order online and we have a point-of-service system," he said. "The students cover more than half the day and we rotate them out, plus they work if they have a study hall. On Fridays, we are here doing our workbooks instead of cooking class."
The class has collaborated with career-tech programs such as the media class to create posters and IT students to press shirts, plus they plan to sell coffee mugs and other items. The cafe began as a moneymaker when his class attended the Cook Around the World competition at the Disney Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla., where students have been recognized each of the two years they participated. The first year they received a fourth-place honor for an Asian-based creation while last year they gained a judge's award for their Mediterranean dish.
"The first year we went to Disney, we were looking for fundraisers and a student suggested selling coffee to teachers," he recalled. "The kids started asking for items and we got permission to sell to them as well. We kept coming up with ideas and started the process to create the café."
His students are learning to make frappuccinos but also offer hot and cold coffee in a variety of flavors, plus hot cocoa and Panther Bites cookies in addition to chips and drinks for other clubs.
"Every month or season we will add another flavor. We had pumpkin spice for Halloween and vanilla caramel for Thanksgiving. We're going to make seasonal pastries and they want us to do a Starbucks-style on Wednesdays. If things become popular, we'll create a menu," he continued. "It's as close as they can possibly get to job experience."
All of the proceeds benefit the class, which plans to attend the Disney competition every other year while Fabry also hoped to enter them in regional contests to showcase their culinary creativity.