The Happy Beans baristas are all smiles before their first shift at the coffee shop. The students learn a variety of life skills while working at Happy Beans. Last year’s employees included Israel Gagnon, Cooper Whetstone, Sophia Moore, Bella Bruner, Lilly Reffitt, Zebulon Schang, Ethan Lengyel and Dennis Friedberg. Photos provided by Rachel Jensen.

By Marissa Sweatland
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE — “The idea sparked my interest. It was right up my alley as something creative, something new, something fun that these kids can really benefit from and also feel like they are a part of something,” Rachel Jensen, “manager” at Happy Beans, a student-run coffee shop, and resource teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, explained. “A lot of these kids do not do sports or are not involved in a lot of those extra-curriculars and so this was something we were able to do to help bridge that gap.”

Happy Beans barista, Israel Gagnon, right, explains the menu to a customer. Happy Beans sells hot regular and decaf coffee, hot chocolate and tea.

Happy Beans is the brain child between Jensen and Jefferson Elementary parent, Stacey Gagnon, after reading an article on a similar project. Once Jensen got the green light from her administration, Happy Beans was ready to set up shop and opened in February of 2023.

Happy Beans is “staffed” with four Jefferson Elementary School student-volunteers picked by Jensen. Through students’ time working at the coffee shop, they learn practical life skills and often other skills which can be hard to teach in a traditional classroom setting, such as reading social cues, problem solving, adaptability and teamwork.

“I like to call it Jefferson’s ‘pretend business,’” Jensen said with a big smile. “The goal is not to make money for ourselves. Our profit goes toward savings, supplies to keep our shop open and stocked and our kindness projects.”

Happy Beans’ supplies for its’ initial start-up were donated by generous community members, but restocking the shop is paid out of the young baristas’ profits. With leftover profits, Happy Beans puts the funds toward completing kindness projects picked by the students. In the past, this has included donations to Spartan Outfitters and various gift card donations to school community members experiencing hardship.

Part of Happy Beans’ profits go toward funding kindness projects. Past kindness projects include a fundraiser for Happy Beans barista, Israel Gagnon, and various gift card donations to school community members experiencing hardship.

One of the larger kindness projects was a fundraiser for one of Happy Beans inaugural baristas and co-creator’s son, Israel Gagnon, following his hospitalization for sepsis. Organizers of the fundraiser hoped to raise $6,000 to cover the cost of a new wheelchair and $3,000 to $4,000 for a bicycle. Donations raised between the Israel Gagnon Fund at Lake City Bank, a GoFundMe and Happy Beans Coffee was $14,000. The fundraiser was open from Friday, Feb. 9 to Friday, Feb. 16. The extra funds raised helped with medical bill payments.

“My students love being able to work hard to show kindness to their peers and teachers,” Jensen said. “There are many staff and parents that are regular customers, but community members are invited as well.”

Rachel Jensen, middle, and baristas, Israel Gagnon, Sophia Moore and Bella Bruner, get ready to open Happy Beans, a student-ran coffee shop at Jefferson Elementary School, to serve school and local community members.

In addition to the social skills learned through this experience, students are also learning and growing finance skills through budgeting profits, taking payments and counting change.

“Seeing students grow in their confidence and skills and get more comfortable week-to-week is just the coolest thing,” Jensen reported. “I can think of one student who has just absolutely thrived and has really taken on that leadership role. She is a natural; she is so good at it. Now, she wants to work at a coffee shop.”

Before Happy Beans opens for the year, Jensen will “train” new baristas on how the flow of a purchase will work. Once a customer approaches the counter, a barista will greet and take their order, while another barista serves it. Money is exchanged, change is given and another happy customer is served.

Happy Beans is gearing up for another tremendous year of serving the school and local community. Located inside the front doors of Jefferson Elementary, Happy Beans will be open from 8:45-9:30 a.m. every Friday, starting Oct. 25. The menu consists of hot regular and decaf coffee, hot chocolate and tea. Jensen is working on creating a collaborative project between Happy Beans and the school’s functional skills class to sell baked goods at the coffee shop.