Cincinnati Public Colleges college students be taught life classes, one cup of espresso at a time

CINCINNATI – Calling all coffee lovers in Cincinnati: There’s a new place to get a cup of coffee in Queen City, and in this place, Broadway Joe’s, all the baristas are CPS students preparing to go into the Workforce to join.

Project Search is a year-long transition work program for students with a range of intellectual and developmental disabilities. The goal of the program is to help participants successfully make the jump from high school to the adult community by teaching them real-world work skills.

“I definitely think this is my favorite because our students had a dream or plan to be entrepreneurs and gave them the customer service experience,” said Grant Stanley, Cincinnati public school intervention specialist and project search instructor the range of things students have done.

WCPO employee

The Hamilton County Juvenile Court, where the new coffee bar is located, has joined the project.

“He built deep self-esteem and confidence through Project Search so that these children could have a better future,” said Judge Melissa Powers.

To start their coffee business, the children went on an excursion to La Terza to study bean and coffee preparation – and then went on to start a business.

Courtesy Grant Staley

“They got off to a soft start by testing the coffee and handing out test samples to create excitement around the building,” Powers said. “You came up with your own logo, your own name.”

The logo captures the architecture of the building and the name.

“Broadway, because we’re on Broadway – and we found Joe because you know – a cup of Joe,” said Alexis Peppers, a student at CPS and Project Search.

What is brewed in every cup of coffee is more than a product – it is a future for Alexis Peppers and all the other students.

“It will help me in the future if I want a job in customer service – interacting with different people and understanding what they like,” said Peppers.

WCPO employee

Broadway Joe’s is accepting recommended donations to cover the cost of running the coffee bar. A small cup of coffee is $ 1 and $ 2 for its larger size. However, if you want to make a larger donation, that’s fine too.

They also announced that they are expanding their business operations from two to five days a week.