‘Rise and Shine Cafe’ Launches at Deering High School

Students at Deering High School created a vibrant student-run business called Rise and Shine Cafe. The project provided an opportunity for students with special needs to learn transferable work skills, as well as supply the school community with delicious coffee, tea and other snacks.

These students in the Functional Life Skills program at Deering High School learned how to operate the small business while involving their community. 

According to one of the adult allies on the project, “Deering’s Functional Life Skills program uses a combination of classroom teaching, as well as practice through real life experiences, community-based instruction, and pre-vocational training. All activities, including the coffee cart, are developed to empower students by promoting their life and social skills necessary to achieve greater levels of independence.”

The students and mentors at DHS are hopeful that this pop-up business could lead to a permanent cafe cart at school.

• Students: Davic Ntibandetse, Ahmed Noor, Nuh Yusef, Mary Burke and Faith Longval

• Adult Ally: Valentina Lodola-Rahaman, Jessie Muldoon

• Grant Award: $300