Superintendent visits student-staffed Grizzly Grindz

Superintendent Gdowski visited Rocky Top's Grizzly Grindz coffee shop on March 6th. He took the time to talk with our student baristas, explored the stand-alone shop complete with our posted employee of the month and even purchased coffee and a donut for himself and Mr. Griffin, the Rocky Top principal! Grizzly Grindz is a functional/life skills coffee shop at Rocky Top which is staffed by students from our special programs classes. On Wednesday's our students work on functional communication and life related skills to sell beverages and snacks to staff members. Our store has evolved from a mobile cart to a permanent shop here at Rocky Top. Students are building skills for future career experiences as well as interpersonal skills to use with both peers and adults in their community. We are raising money for a program field trip in the spring for students to go out into the community. Our staff members love our shop and come, punch cards in hand, to see our students using their skills. Grizzly Grindz warms bellies and hearts at Rocky Top every week!

Special thanks to the Rocky Top Middle School community for submitting this Five Star Story.

This story exemplifies our ELEVATE Focus Area: Safe Schools. Sharing stories about how the district supports student learning by providing a safe and secure environment.