The Hangar is a student-run coffee shop at Jones Middle School designed as a career-readiness program. The program gives students an opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a real customer-service environment while developing skills they can use in future jobs.
The program will select approximately students who are committed to participating throughout the 2026–27 school year. Rather than simply helping operate a coffee shop, students will be treated as employees and taught the expectations and responsibilities that come with having a job.
Students will gain hands-on experience in:
Customer Service & Communication — greeting staff, taking orders, communicating professionally, and providing quality service.
Drink Preparation & Service — learning recipes, preparing orders correctly, maintaining consistency, and safely operating equipment.
Inventory & Organization — monitoring supplies, restocking, organizing the workspace, and understanding how inventory affects a business.
Teamwork — working with other student employees, dividing responsibilities, communicating during busy periods, and helping the team succeed.
Workplace Habits — punctuality, attendance, responsibility, following directions, appropriate behavior, and completing assigned tasks.
Money & Business Skills — learning how a small business operates and understanding the relationship between products, costs, inventory, and sales.
Students will also receive digital compensation for each day worked. Their earnings can be spent in a digital Hangar store, allowing them to experience the connection between work, earning, saving, and purchasing rewards.
The Hangar is a year-long commitment, not a short-term club. Students are expected to maintain good attendance, follow program and school expectations, and take their assigned shifts seriously. Excessive absences, failure to complete responsibilities, or repeated behavior/workplace issues may result in removal from the program.
Ultimately, The Hangar’s purpose is bigger than coffee. The goal is to provide middle-school students with an early opportunity to build confidence, independence, responsibility, communication skills, and real-world work habits in a supportive school environment.
