The Sweet Sensations Cafe in W70 has been a part of Hudson High School since 2007, when it was founded by Mrs. Belnap, Ms. Quinn and Ms. Ersoff. Since then, the Cafe has been providing sweet treats to HHS students and staff for great prices.
The Cafe sells a variety of snacks including cookies and Hollywood Krispies (rice crispy treats made with peanut butter and topped with chocolate and pretzels), all of which are made by the students themselves (with some help from educators). They also sell beverages like water, teas and juices, and many students who work at the cafe enjoy making Keurig Coffee. They even have options for different dietary restrictions, including gluten-free and vegan.
Many students who work there said that working at the cash register is their favorite job. It gives them practice with counting money and offers career preparation for when they can get jobs within the community. Building the skill sets of students with special needs is the reason that Mrs. Belnap started the Cafe in the first place.
Although Sweet Sensations is a high school program, students from younger grades sometimes visit and help out, which introduces them to the Cafe. Because of this, incoming freshmen are usually very excited to become cafe workers and customers, to be regular parts of the Cafe. To learn how to perform different tasks, the underclassmen are taught how to do them by the upperclassmen.
Sweet Sensations teaches students how to work both individually and collaboratively through these tasks. Making food builds the ability to problem-solve alone. Students also take weekly trips to the supermarket to buy ingredients to make baked goods from scratch (muffins, cookies, etc), and they make the coffee sold in the Cafe. On the flipside, working the cash register and counter is a job for more than one person, which builds interpersonal skills and the ability to deal with money. “It’s a practice round or a training program,” said freshman Tuesday Pearsall.
Aside from the Cafe’s location in room W70 in the art wing, they also have a cart which is stationed outside the library on Wednesday mornings. The cart provides more exposure for Sweet Sensations since many people don’t know where it is. They offer all the same items as the Cafe in W70. Juniors Nicholas Savelli and Leah Gilanyi, students from Mr. Barnes’ room, especially enjoy working at the cart and like the level of responsibility it gives them. The students aren’t working entirely alone, though – they have some help from educational aides like Mrs. Droham and Ms. Merritt who make sure the whole process runs smoothly with Mrs. Belnap.
With the money they make at both locations, the Cafe is able to continue to fund their efforts to provide its students with necessary life skills. “We’re not looking to make a big profit,” said Mrs. Belnap. “We’re just making enough to continue to do it week after week.”
There’s also the tip jar. The money that comes from tips is saved until there is enough to buy things like board games, movies and art supplies. This happens twice a year.
The Sweet Sensations Cafe is one of the most beneficial programs at HHS. Its positive impact is undeniable, and their snacks and drinks are made with care by friendly students. So stop by the Sweet Sensations Cafe in room W70 or at the cart by the library, pick up a treat and meet the great people who work there.
