Hudson Falls High School’s popular Tiger Den Cafe operated by special needs students

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Twenty students with special needs in the SUCCESS program at Hudson Falls High School have been learning valuable life skills over the past year running the Tiger Den Cafe, delivering drinks, baked goods and smiles to teachers and staff.

Students decide the weekly menu, keep track of the ingredient supply, shop for what is needed, maintain a budget, make and package the products, do daily deliveries and work at the cart on Fridays.

The cafe sells coffee, tea, hot chocolate, coffee cake, protein balls, Oreo balls, and a variety of breads, such as banana, pumpkin, and cranberry-orange.

Teachers Kelly LeMay and Dan Sanders oversee the effort.

“We wanted to do something more with our kids hands-on, because it is a life skills program,” Mr. Sanders said. “So we thought that we would strengthen their money skills, their cooking skills, their communication skills with the teachers.”

He said, “The teachers appreciate it. They love seeing our kids in the morning coming up to their door with a delivery cart, getting them coffee every day. That really just boosts the morale for the building.”

Elizabeth Reyes, a senior in the SUCCESS program, said she enjoys preparing the food, counting the money and interacting with different teachers.

“It gives me more confidence,” she said.

She’s inspired to try doing it herself. “When I graduate I’m going to start up my own little coffee cart,” she said.

Another senior in the program, Tristan Jones, said, “I like to communicate with the adults that work at the school, and do the money and baking.”

He also enjoys the aspect of “being, like, a whole team about it.”

He said the experience has helped with his job at Hannaford bagging groceries and delivering items to people’s cars, specifically by improving his communication and eye contact skills.

“When you do your own store, you’ve got to have good communications,” he said.

Mr. Sanders said that over $1,000 has been earned so far through the store, donations and a grant. The plan is to use the money to create a “classroom apartment” where students will work on skills like folding and washing laundry and cooking and cleaning. Some money will also be put away for field trips.

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