Cafe 21: A unique method of teaching students

Students packed last night's School Committee meeting to listen to their teachers give presentations on a unique classroom experience to the board.

Patricia Dunne, a Fisher Elementary School language and speech teacher, kicked off the meeting with a discussion about the origins and success of Cafe 21, which is run by special education students.

Cafe 21 began last year as a way for teachers to meet on Friday mornings, sit down for coffee and discuss teaching strategies. Quickly, and with student involvement, the activity burgeoned into a way for Dunne's students to learn lessons in a unique way and raise money for charity.

"This is one of our favorite things to do," said School Committee Chairman Nancy Gallivan, "to have students come (to meetings) because you all make us so proud."

Cafe 21, named for the room it takes place in, really begins on Thursdays, Dunne said. Students take part in a cooking class that helps them learn how to sequence, follow directions and take measurements as well as basic living skills, Dunne said.

Before actually cooking, students verbalize the recipes and go over the vocabulary involved.

The next morning, students have the opportunity to sell their fresh goods to teachers and other guests. "They really do a fantastic job," Dunne said.

Some staff members and high school students also bring in food for the elementary students to sell.

The speech and language students have pen pals at the high school, two of which visit each Friday.

"It's really been a unique bond," Dunne said of the program.

Fisher students take jobs from greeter to cashier to made-to-order coffee helper each Friday morning in Cafe 21.

Along with various other lessons, Dunne said dealing with the money is a "fun way to work on math skills."

"Business is hopping," she reported. "You can never underestimate the power of coffee on a Friday morning."

All the proceeds from Cafe 21 are donated to the House of Possibilities, a charity that supports families with special needs. So far the program has raised $800.

Also at Fisher school, Lisa Grasso's third-grade class has undertaken the task of writing and sending care packages to an Army unit currently in Iraq.

The father of one of the students is a captain in charge of 24 soldiers.

Two students from the class said they wrote with the goal of making the soldiers less homesick and to show they still cared and were thinking about them.

They also sent care packages full of various foods, DVDs and calling cards.

The troops recently sent back pictures and an American flag that has flown in Iraq.

The students just finished Valentine's Day cards to be sent over, as well.

For International Week, three students from Fisher also gave reports on neighbors Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Finally, Old Post Road Elementary School art students, under the direction of Alice Siegel, got to show off some of their work.

A new Web site, www.artsonia.com, allows art teachers around the world to take photos of students' work and post them in a community venue.

Visitors of the site can post positive comments after looking at the work, join a student's fan page or even order a print of the piece to be put on things like T-shirts, coffee mugs or mouse pads.

"Showing your children what other children are doing is a wonderful form of cultural enrichment," Siegel said. She also said it is an excellent way for relatives to stay current with the artwork of their loved ones.

Old Post Road currently posts the most artwork of any school in the state and is 25th in the nation.

Superintendent Lincoln Lynch said, "Our purpose here is to serve the students and to do what's best for them." He admitted that "sometimes we get caught up in adult issues."