Krissy Stout

Coffee Corral workers help customers with pride.

Two Thursdays a month during Advisory, students snake a line through the senior hallway to make purchases at the Coffee Corral. Coffee Corral, run by the students in Elizabeth Tindall and Jill McCracken’s classes, sells hot beverages and homemade treats. Shelly Galloway, the paraprofessional in charge, helps students run this small business.

The line is long, but any adult may “cut the line” to get goodies, in order to get them back to their classes. All drinks are $1.00 each and all baked goods are $1.50 each, cash only. 

Wesley Balderrama, a junior who has been working at the Coffee Corral since 2021, enjoys the opportunity and knows that it will help him in the long run for college. “It’s something I can put on my resume, and I also get some tip money from it,” Balderrama said.

The Coffee Corral originally started about nine years ago with McCracken before Galloway came to MSHS. “The Coffee Corral became in my hands at that time, once I became a job coach three years ago,” Galloway said. 

McCracken and students originally started it just for staff and offered only hot drinks. When Galloway arrived, the Coffee Corral developed even further by incorporating baked goods and opened to students.

The students and staff who help with the Coffee Corral hope to one day purchase an espresso machine. “We’re glad for the admin support of our program, and we hope someday to even have an espresso machine; so that’s exciting for us,” Galloway said.

The Coffee Corral began because McCracken and Tindall wanted their students to develop the skills that would be required to work in a real coffee shop: customer service, team building, food and drink preparation and receiving payment. All of the baked goods sold during the Coffee Corral are homemade in their kitchen by the students. The Coffee Corral charges a minimal amount of money because they believe in making the items that they sell affordable for all students and staff. In addition, any proceeds made are used to purchase needed supplies so that they can continue to offer this program.

Elsa Baker (12) started working at the Coffee Corral for the work experience. She has since continued to do it for the responsibility of being the runner. “My personal role within the Coffee Corral has always been a runner, which is grabbing orders and then calling out people’s names,” Baker said. “I was the only one that wanted to do that because most of the other people are pretty shy and with my acting background, it’s easy to speak up.” 

Coffee Corral is there for the enjoyment of staff and students. The students working in the Coffee Corral enjoy it when they are very busy, and they love it when they see their teachers. It can be stressful for the students sometimes and take the fun out of it, but overall they still enjoy their positions in the corral. “I am a very, very stressed person, but especially during the crowds. It’s a lot,” Baker said.

Balderama has had more experience than some people that also do the Coffee Corral, and he enjoys teaching others more about it. Balderama can usually be found at the cash register. “I don’t always work as the cashier, but they want me there because I have more experience than some of the other people,” Balderama said.