The Coffee Collective

In 2023, Tenor Cathedral Square Academic Resource Teacher Zac Blum was working with a student who needed something more to make school as relevant and hands-on as possible. They came up with the idea to develop some kind of shop, where the student could focus on developing important life skills. Along with Seeds of Health leaders, Zac, the student, and a few additional young people who were interested in the project set up folding tables in the school gym and made simple coffee drinks for the Tenor Cathedral Square staff. In the years since, the project has blossomed from a small venture into an agency-wide initiative, reaching not just other Seeds’ schools, but also the wider community. At the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year, Tenor Cathedral Square’s Coffee Cafe “franchised” to Tenor Journal Square and Veritas, transforming into the Coffee Collective – an agency-wide initiative offering more students access to the one-of-a-kind program.

At Tenor Cathedral, the Coffee Cafe is open four days a week and serves a menu of beverages that is entirely student-created. The cafe is also offering “pop-up” Coffee Cafe services at neighborhood gatherings, festivals, and even corporate partner events. Through a partnership with Rainbow Day Camp’s Bonim Farms, Coffee Cafe students tend to their garden plots, where they are growing produce for their recipes.

Tenor Cathedral’s program is continuing to implement its inclusive elective Coffee Cafe course, giving students the opportunity to work in a focused way on the Coffee Cafe project. Students rotate through four hands-on learning modules: Business, Marketing, Research & Development, and Production. They work in groups and spend three weeks devoted to each learning module, exposing them to all aspects of running a business, from beverage and menu creation to the creation and distribution of promotional materials.

Opened in Fall 2025, Tenor Journal Square’s Coffee Cafe complements Tenor Cathedral’s, expanding the number of students able to participate in the unique entrepreneurial endeavor. In the cafe’s first semester of operation, ten Journal Square students accompanied those at Tenor Cathedral to learn about entrepreneurial management. The students then leveraged the insights they gained at Tenor Cathedral to successfully open their own cafe, easing into operation throughout the semester and beginning full service later in the year.

Veritas’ Coffee Cafe Club, the Thundercat Cafe, emerged as a response to student needs and the hard work of one Veritas student. After visiting Tenor Cathedral’s Coffee Cafe, Rafael felt determined to establish a similar venture at Veritas. He created a presentation outlining his ideas for Veritas’ version of the cafe – he considered the location of the cafe, its structure as a club, plans for safety, menu items, and collaborations—before successfully presenting his pitch to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Academic Operations Officer of Seeds of Health. Rafael grounded his plans in the findings he heard while surveying Veritas students, ensuring that the club remained home-grown and responsive to the needs of the Veritas student body. In its newly renovated space, the Thundercat Cafe began serving coffee in the mornings before school in Fall 2025. Rafael’s determination and entrepreneurial mindset will allow Veritas to follow in the footsteps of Tenor High School, opening the door for students to access new opportunities to develop in customer service, business, and entrepreneurship, all while fostering Veritas’ engaged, enthusiastic student climate.

Even as the Coffee Collective has expanded, it continues to prioritize inclusivity, maintaining its focus on offering students with disabilities the chance to practice and build important life skills.

The cafes remain a place for students with disabilities and other students to come together and collaborate, communicate, and practice customer service and entrepreneurial management skills in a supportive environment.