Coffee Tree Roasters in operation at Thomas Jefferson High School

Thomas Jefferson High School students can enjoy Coffee Tree Roasters’ official caramel lattes and cappuccinos without ever leaving school.

However, the officially licensed Coffee Tree Roasters that opened at the start of March to TJ students is about more than tasty beverages. The shop will serve as a learning lab for business and life skills students to experience what it’s like to work in a real life coffee shop.

The business and life skills students at TJ are in charge of everything from managing the shop, tracking sales, ordering new products and working as officially trained Coffee Tree Roasters baristas.

“You watch the kids working together. They’re excited, very proud to be there,” Superintendent Michael Ghilani said. “That’s what it’s all about — it’s this real world experience that you can’t replicate.”

The idea for the partnership came from one of Ghilani’s frequent visits to the Pleasant Hills branch of Coffee Tree Roasters, located in the Bill Green Shopping Center.

Other schools across the region have opened coffee shops to serve as training facilities for their students. Some have even considered partnering with businesses. But finding the right partner is tricky.

When Ghilani read the story of Coffee Tree Roasters’ history posted on a sign inside the shop, he said he knew this was a good match for TJ.

Owner Jean Swoope had written and posted about the store’s history after her husband, Bill, had died in April 2018. It was Bill and his dad, also named Bill, who started Coffee Tree Roasters in Squirrel Hill in 1994.

Today, there are five Coffee Tree Roasters branches in the area, along with an additional six or seven licensed stores. The licensed stores carry the Coffee Tree name and products, but they are not staffed with the company’s employees.

“You are a truly licensed store,” Swoope told TJ administrators as they talked about the importance of teaching business skills to students.

Ghilani took the entire administrative team to Coffee Tree’s headquarters and learned about their mission. The district utilized a cooperative purchasing agreement to buy the equipment.

Students can learn about more than just selling coffee through this partnership. Coffee Tree Roasters also has a retail component and maintenance department, all of which Ghilani said can be pipelines for students looking for future careers.

For Swoope, this is one of the most exciting projects she’s worked on in a very long time.

Her family has always believed in the importance of giving back to the community, she said.

“It’s important to teach skills to all of our children that they’re going to be able to use out in the real world,” she said.

Working at a coffee shop while in high school will provide students with a lot of valuable lessons, Swoope and Ghilani agreed.

“It teaches them business skills, how to save money. There’s so much that can be learned from this,” Swoope said. “Probably the most important thing is how to interact with people face-to-face.”

For Ghilani, it’s important to create real-life experiences for students to provide a path for their future.

“Those kids, they’re making the real deal,” he said.

Instead of learning to make coffee on a Keurig or at-home style coffee pot, students at TJ’s Coffee Tree were taught by the shop’s trainer on equipment that can be found in any Coffee Tree across the region.

The 11 students in Christine Bacola’s retail management class — who also are in charge of running the Jag Den school store — are helping to oversee the business aspects of the TJ Coffee Tree.

Students understand that this is a real life business that they’re involved in, Bacola said. They’re being precise and making sure that everything is made exactly as it should be. After all, they have to report back to a real company on their work.

Several students have expressed an interest in working at a Coffee Tree branch outside of school, Bacola said.

“Some of the kids have said, ‘Hey, maybe when I’m in college I can work at Starbucks or whatever the local coffee shop is there, because I’m already a barista,’ ” she said.

Seven students in the school’s life skills program along with their “best buddies” are working in the shop, as well.

“They’re learning so many skills: customer service, multi-step directions, time management,” said Emily Leininger, life skills teacher.

They’re also learning to interact with their peers and their peers are learning to interact with them.

“Part of our vision with life skills students is that they should be integrated into the regular school day as much as possible,” Ghilani said. “Obviously, they have special needs in certain areas when it comes to social and academic, but the more we can integrate them and the more interaction we can promote with the student body, the better they’re going to be served and ready for real life after high school.”

Senior Mia Maksin, president of the TJ Best Buddies club, said working at the TJ Coffee Tree has been a lot of fun, so far — and a little stressful at times.

Students started out making lattes, but they’ll progress to frozen drinks and smoothies in the future.

Her favorite part has been helping life skills students learn new skills. She’s taking something from it, too.

“It’s definitely really good work experience,” she said.

Students at TJ are excited about the new coffee shop, she said. They’re loving all of the sauces and syrups that they can add to their drinks.

“I’ll definitely be spending a lot of money here,” Maksin said.