By BILL KNIGHT
For The Weekly Post
ELMWOOD – Motorists coming to pick up kids or having dropped off students, pedestrians heading to work in Elmwood schools, or area residents needing a morning beverage for their commute all could soon be patronizing a modern food-cart trailer at the north side of the new parking lot across from the entrance to Elmwood Elementary School.
There, volunteers and students serving drinks for class-participation credit hope to soon be offering coffees, teas and more for about $3.50 a purchase. It’s not just a new business in town nor a Coffee Convenience; it’s 21st century education in action: Morgan St. Mug, envisioned to operate from 7-8 a.m. and 2:30-4 p.m. on school days, and also to be an addition at functions at the school and in the community. The District hasn’t finalized the venture – so an opening date is to be determined – but teacher Destiny Wiebler and 16 students – many of whom drink coffee, iced coffee and lattes – are optimistic after an initial sit with the Board of Education on Jan. 27. In a group interview with Wiebler and students, they explained that they’ve been working on multiple ideas.
“The original idea was to open a coffee cart inside of the school,” they said. “We have been running this for two years. Students can order online and have drinks delivered and can order in person at the end of the day. To build on our cart, we approached the idea of having a brick-and-mortar coffee shop in town. We explored the options but decided that to keep costs down and [for] flexibility, a trailer would be the better option.”
Studying entrepreneur endeavors, the group’s goals are to run a business, learn from the experience and break even. After launching the business, the students aim to reach a revenue level to pay workers by the start of the 2021-22 school year.
They conducted a survey that shows support for the concept, as almost 80 percent of respondents said they drink coffee in the morning and about 62 percent said they’d buy from a coffee truck near Elmwood’s schools. “We are in hopes that that number would be increased if they knew our menu offered more than just coffee. We have faith that our community will support a student-run business.”
As an extension of the classroom, Morgan St. Mug (MSM) will fall under the District’s non-profit tax status, but students still must acquire permits and licenses, registrations and certifications, and had to verify insurance coverage and clarify staffing.
“We recently had [Farmers State Bank President] Jennifer Beard come into our classroom to listen to our proposal,” they said. “She gave useful advice and critiques to further prepare us for our next presentation to the school board.”
Expecting startup costs of more than $24,000, mostly from purchasing an outfitted food-cart-style trailer, students plan to return to the school board with a final group presentation at the board’s March 23 meeting. The idea’s strengths, students explained last month, include not only the promising survey but students being savvy in using social media.
Their marketing plans combine daily promotions, advertising and social-media communications, initially to two target customers bases: students and school staff and also parents and members of the greater Elmwood community. The group plans an MSM website, a presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and outreach through the school. Students say they won’t limit themselves to 2½ hours outside the schools, forecasting a presence at school activities and community events, from sports at the school and Maple Lane Country Club to music, speech, Scholastic Bowl and parent-teacher conferences, plus local festivals, Easter Egg hunts, Veterans Day and Christmas events, etc.
Also, the students are preparing a full menu of drinks including lattes, chai tea, macchiatos and iced coffee. “We will also be creating our own homemade syrups such as brown-sugar cinnamon and almond,” they said. “Eventually, the Foods & Nutrition classes will be making various baked goods such as scones, muffins, donut holes, and granola balls.”
As far as learning, MSM is designed to be a cross-curricular project. Beside Family and Consumer Sciences’ entrepreneurial unit, interdisciplinary activities will be contributed by classes in accounting, agriculture, art, English, mass communications, math, and web design.
Planning is easier than doing, of course, but even bumps in the roads teach. “We feel as though this process has been more complicated than anticipated,” they said. “This is a real-world experience and we have encountered hiccups along the way. The positive thing is that even when we take a step back, we are able to learn from it and spring
