Palmyra high school’s Cougar Cafe serves coffee and teaches life skills

On Friday mornings, students and staff members in the Palmyra Area Senior High School can stop by the Cougar Cafe, which is run by special education students, for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cold refreshers, and baked goods.

The coffee shop serves as an opportunity for them to practice their math, customer service, and barista skills.

Deanna Morder has been a special education and life skills teacher at Palmyra for two years and found out about the cafe during the interview process.

“I said I’ve never really run a coffee shop, but I’m willing to give it a try,” she said. “So the first year when I came in, I let the kids teach me about it because I wanted it to become student-led, and I just oversee the operations, being the teacher, and giving them the tools and education that they need to run a coffee shop.”

Morder said the students taught her for about two months how to make the various drinks in different flavors and create the baked goods they sell.

By the time they opened for the first time under Morder’s supervision, it was entirely student-run. As the students get more experience, they become more independent and ask fewer questions.

“Last Friday was one of my best Fridays,” Morder said. “I literally was just standing in the Cougar Cafe, and it was totally student-led. Nobody asked me for help. They just got to work, did what their expectation was, and they rocked it. It was amazing. It actually gave me goosebumps.”

The Cougar Cafe is also a chance for these students to learn new skills, such as being a barista, managing cash, working with customers, problem-solving, and time management. The cafe runs on a rotation, with several different jobs students can fill, including cashier, barista, server, floater, food, and greeter.

The cafe started out with ingredients from Walmart, but Morder introduced Dunkin’ products. Sales went up with the brand name included.

The funding for the shop goes to the classes running it.

“It is used for community-based instruction, our class trips, it pays for transportation, pays for admission to get into the places,” Morder said. “That way, I don’t have to go home and ask parents, ‘Hey, send in $5 for this field trip,’ and I’m not nickel-and-diming my parents because they have enough on their plate.”

She said trips can get pricey for a class of around 20 kids. Previously, they’ve gone to the Turkey Hill Experience and a Dunkin’ location to see a professional coffee shop operation.

The Cougar Cafe also helps make Palmyra more inclusive.

“It makes us feel like a whole school rather than being isolated — just building that unity at the high school as a whole,” Morder said.

Teachers typically allow students to step away from class for a few minutes to stop at the cafe, and some bring the entire class for a break from learning. Morder said the administration and the entire school community have been very supportive.

Tyson Poust is a junior in the special education classroom who works at the cafe. He said he enjoys working with his fellow students, serving coffee, and especially seeing his teammates from the unified bocce team.

“I like doing the Cougar Cafe because it’s my favorite nice job,” he said. “I like to be the barista in the Cougar Cafe with Mrs. Morder because she’s always my favorite teacher in the whole world, and she’s my best friend.”

Poust said that in the future, he wants to get a job working at the Dunkin’ in Campbelltown.