AVID students get artsy to give back to local coffee shop

More than 220 students from the Dysart High School (DHS) Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program continued a multi-year tradition recently by decorating more than 1,000 coffee sleeves for local coffee house, Spencer’s Place.  The sleeves were decorated in holiday themes by the students just before Thanksgiving break and delivered to the coffee shop.  Each year this small gesture has been growing in popularity, and this year Spencer’s Place ran out in less than two weeks.  

The activity started a few years ago when Alesha Wisbey, the AVID Coordinator and Teacher, read on a teacher Facebook group about one school that was doing the project for a prominent coffee chain.  Wisbey had another idea in mind.  She once taught with Karin York, who now owns and operates Spencer’s Place.  Wisbey reached out to York, who said absolutely, and the tradition was born.

If you aren’t familiar with it, Spencer’s Place is a coffee house created in partnership with the Employed and Overjoyed Foundation to introduce equal employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Spencer’s Place provides adults with disabilities job training and direct skill development to earn a paycheck, build relationships, gain a sense of purpose, and show the community the beauty of diversity and inclusion.

The AVID students have individual community service hours that they have to earn as part of the program, but the coffee sleeves project is one that they do as a group. 

“The kids look forward to this activity so much,” said Wisbey.  “Mainly because they get to give back to the community, but I think a small part of them likes to have a stress reliever where they can just put their energy into art instead of the stress of school work.”

The AVID program has been a fixture at DHS since 2008 when it was first introduced to the district. AVID is a program that supports students in the academic middle who are motivated to attend post secondary education, but may not have all of the tools they need in order to be as successful as they can be in a college setting. Through the four-year program, students are taught note taking skills, time management, test taking skills, collaboration and critical reading skills, and are supported as they tackle rigorous curriculum.

Karin York shared that customers absolutely love the student-dectorated coffee sleeves, and even keep them to hang on their trees or use year over year.

“The coffee sleeves are just a little something that makes people’s days better,” said Layla Gonzales, a senior AVID student at Dysart High School. 

Senior Jocelyn Barrios echoed that statement.  

“I feel like since the community gives us a lot of things, it’s always nice to give back to them,” she shared.  “We want our community to see that AVID is a great program that helps kids.  The program boosts our motivation toward helping the community and doing our best in school.”

“Community service builds them into well rounded adults,” Wisbey shared.  “It’s all about helping kids get to where they want to go.”