{"id":10551,"date":"2022-11-02T12:48:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T16:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10551"},"modified":"2022-11-02T12:48:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T16:48:01","slug":"food-and-service-the-right-way-at-happy-day-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/food-and-service-the-right-way-at-happy-day-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Food and Service the Right Way, at Happy Day Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2013by David Schleck<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chris is flying high at Happy Day Caf\u00e9. After preparing his favorite breakfast items, he rolls his cart down the office hallway and greets customers with a warm smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood morning, Chris,\u201d says Wanda Conyers, an office associate in the Family & Community Engagement (FACE) building. \u201cI\u2019d like some grapes. And what else do you have today?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris squints and smiles at Conyers before exclaiming \u2014 \u201cQuiche!\u201d<\/p>\n

Not just any quiche, but bacon and cheese quiche. Yummy! There\u2019s a variety of comfort foods and healthy options at Happy Day Caf\u00e9, a kitchen classroom operated by the Office of Programs for Exceptional Children.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Students make and sell salads, sandwiches, sloppy joes and more, all while learning essential customer service and communication skills to interact with customers. Students compete for sales rewards that include special-order pizzas they can bring back to their home schools.<\/p>\n

The Happy Day Caf\u00e9 primarily serves staff at the FACE building and the Plaza Annex next door, but customers anywhere can order items online at happydaycafe.org and pick them up at the caf\u00e9, including staff members from across the division who attend meetings at the Plaza Annex.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone here has expressed an interest in the program through meetings with their parents and teachers,\u201d said Brian Malsch, a teacher who manages the caf\u00e9. \u201cWe have a lot of fun here. When the students come off the bus each morning, they\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malsch said students develop employability skills, which has helped some of them secure jobs at Food Lion and Lowes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Customers benefit from the caf\u00e9\u2019s affordable and well-made food, and the students learn about cooking and excellent service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a classroom, not a cafeteria,\u201d Malsch said. \u201cSometimes unexpected things happen in the kitchen. And that\u2019s fine, it\u2019s always a teaching moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a recent morning, Administrative Office Associate Sheilah Joseph ordered some items off the cart and started a friendly conversation with La\u2019Naeya.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m buying two quiches,\u201d Joseph said to La\u2019Naeya, \u201cso how much money do I owe you?\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo dollars,\u201d La\u2019Naeya replied before carefully counting the money given to her.<\/p>\n

Learning money exchange is an important skill \u2014 not just while operating the cafe, but when shopping outside of school, Malsch said.<\/p>\n

The students are a bright spot every morning for staff members like Joseph.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do I look forward to the wonderful goodies they provide, but I also love the interaction we share,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although some of the students are shy, Conyers tries to ask them questions when they stop by.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are talking with them, it helps them to build confidence to talk to you,\u201d she said. \u201c Most of the skills they are learning here at the Happy Day Caf\u00e9 will help them when they are in the community communicating with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling hungry? Happy Day Caf\u00e9 is located at the Plaza Annex, 641 Carriage Hill Road (near Brookwood Elementary School). Online orders must be made by 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday to pick up at noon. Visit happydaycafe.org for a menu and more information.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013by David Schleck Chris is flying high at Happy Day Caf\u00e9. After preparing his favorite breakfast items, he rolls his cart down the office hallway and greets customers with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10551"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10562,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10551\/revisions\/10562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}