RACINE, Wis. — One of Racine's newest and fastest-growing coffee shops has a unique twist. Rebel Roasters is a mobile cafe run by Horlick high schoolers in the special education department.
Multiple times a week, a crew of students walk the halls of Horlick delivering coffee door-to-door to eager teachers waiting for their morning cup of joe.
It has become increasingly popular among both student baristas and teachers. It's not uncommon for the Rebel Roasters coffee cart to run out of coffee.
"It's pretty fun. I like it. You get money," Lamont Luckett, a sophomore and Rebel Roaster barista said.
The goal of the coffee cart is to give students job training that they can hopefully use once they graduate. There is essentially an entire curriculum packed into one trip around the school with the cart. Students learn customer service skills, math, problem-solving skills, social skills, entrepreneurship, and more.
"Cause you don’t want to mix up their orders cause you’ll get it wrong. They probably don’t even want the order if you mess it up," Luckett said.
Special education teacher Ray Cushman helped co-create Rebel Roasters. It officially launched at the beginning of 2023.
"Learning for these guys is more hands-on, so we always want to try and focus on building the skills that they have rather than looking at the skills they may struggle with," he said.
Students take turns operating different parts of the cart. Some of the jobs include cart pusher, cashier, coffee maker, and salesperson. Senior Abby Wendt was in charge of the cash register and making change on Thursday.
"I learn a lot from the money," she said.
The cart requires a lot of quick mental math in order to give teachers their change.
In the future, staff at Horlick hopes that the program can grow. Cushman wants to create a physical cafe location at the school to make the learning opportunities more robust.
"I want them to feel like they have purpose. I want them to feel like they get what they need out of this program, and then I also want them to have that sense of community where they're taking it from the school and bringing that into their future lives when they are done," Cushman said.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
