W.F. High School students took to the Lewis County Coffee Co. stand on Jackson Highway to put their skills to the test and raise money for the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) program Tuesday morning.
Students began running the Crimson & Gray Powered by Lewis County Coffee at W.F. West High School, an in-school coffee shop fully run by the school’s business and marketing students, last spring.
Now, they are getting an immersive experience outside of the school. “Bearcat” drinks were sold by the students for $3 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Teachers such as Don Bunker showed support by buying multiple drinks for their students.
The students received $400 from Lewis County Coffee Co. to go toward the DECA program.
Inside the Lewis County Coffee Co. headquarters, students who weren’t taking orders and making drinks split up into groups to learn about the business side of the coffee shop from owner Samantha Magnuson.
Area manager Jennifer Doven explained the process of interviewing and hiring for the business to another group of students.
Kristin Ciolli, business and marketing teacher at W.F. West, sat in with the students.
As part of Ciolli’s business and marketing classes, students have the opportunity to take part in DECA, an association of marketing students that encourages the development of business and leadership skills through academic conferences and competitions.
“It helps students build their leadership skills, 21st century skills, all of those things that we work on in the store but also in the classroom,” Ciolli said of DECA.
For more information on DECA, visit https://www.deca.org/.
To learn more about career and technical education at W.F. West, visit https://chehalisschools.org/cte/.
