The students of the functional academics program have been gearing up for an extra special launch. Rocky’s Grind is a student operated coffee shop opening today in rooms 1134 and 1136. It is a small business that will be located in these two classrooms for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. 

This coffee shop is currently exclusive to teachers and staff members on campus, but there are plans to expand its services to students as the business develops. 

“Rocky’s Grind was an idea that we have had since the beginning of the year,” Functional Academics Teacher Carly Buck said. “Our first run through was today. It was really good; they were really proud of themselves.”

The meaning behind the business’ name was based on the mascot of the school. The students wanted to incorporate “Rocky” into their coffee shop and the design of the logo. 

“Ms. Torres and I were trying to come up with names and we were throwing different things around, and the students love Rocky. They always want to support Rock Hill,” Buck said. “We wanted to pick Rocky somehow and grind was just somehow a morning coffee. Rocky’s Grind came from wanting to include the mascot. Our students really love the school spirit, and grind just shows how everybody needs their morning coffee to go through their daily grind.” 

Once Rocky’s Grind came to life, the students started their training. The teachers that teach the functional academics classes have been instructing the participating students with support for a few weeks to prepare for their opening. 

“The training really took weeks of us working on those skills in the classroom and lessons,”  Functional Academics Teacher Janette Torres said. “The kids really loved doing the hands-on training with the actual materials, and they were so excited to get it started yesterday. My hopes are that we continue this business until we can.”

These students who have diligently trained to establish this business will gain valuable expertise applicable to their future professions after high school. Many skills can be learned from operating and working at this small coffee shop. 

“We wanted to give our students an opportunity to have a student lined business so that they can learn vocational skills, interpersonal skills, and practice different daily skills that everybody uses,” Buck said. “This is a fun hands-on way to do that.” 

After a successful opening day, the teachers hope to keep the business going for the next school year and train as many students as they can if more decide to join the business. A new club will also be introduced next year to be able to incorporate as many students into this coffee shop as possible. 

“We will be serving our PALS club, hoping to integrate pals into our coffee shop where everybody can work into our coffee shop as an inclusive environment.” Torres said. “We can also use that money we get to support our functional academics program here at Rock Hill.”