Hello Parents!
Our biggest news in January has been the amazing experience of our coffee shop! We thank you for getting your child up early, donating supplies, and supporting the coffee shop! I have been surprised with the amount of lessons I am able to teach, which has been extremely rewarding. Who knew so much could go into such a simple idea? We continue to graph our sales each day and meet as a group to discuss the struggles and accomplishments.
In January, we were able to pay it forward and donate 10% to SOS for their hygiene drive. The culminating project of packaging the hygiene bundles was a great experience for all who participated.
Third years have been joining Cocoplums for our STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — class each Thursday in January. It has been a great experience for all involved! Do you know that today’s employers want their employees to be able to think outside the box creatively while also being able to cooperate and communicate well with others? STEM fosters exactly that!
The first STEM project that we did in the classroom was to create a structure out of toothpicks and sticky dots. Students worked together, focusing on creativity, communication, and cooperation. The second week, we built structures using a box of dry spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. We added an extra challenge of rotating Cocoplum students to different groups to give insight into their group’s ideas. Last week, the third week, we built bridges using Post-it notes and cotton balls. We had an extra challenge when students added paper clips to their bridges to see how many paper clips their bridge could hold.
Cocoplums have been great leaders and helpers during STEM and working the coffee shop. I am so proud of all that they have accomplished. Here are some other Cocoplums to tell you what else we have been doing in class.
“Hi, my name is Samara and I am in fifth grade. This is an update on the coffee shop. We donated 10% of our money that we made each day to the SOS hygiene drive. Now this month we are donating to the SPCA. We also wanted to tell you about Free Friday. Free Friday is if you bring your own mug all week then you get a free coffee on Friday. We now have Cuban Coffee Queen’s coffee. We are also saving up for a class trip. Please help support us and thank you to the people that have supported us.”
“Hi, my name is Mason. I’m going to share about plans for our school trips in the future. One idea is to go to Universal Studios. It’s $118 per person for a day pass. Another idea is to go to the Dry Tortugas. We will be able to snorkel, kayak, and maybe even camp out there. We are also planning on some small trips like going to the Cuban Coffee Queen to watch them roast the coffee. We are going to pay for all of it by using the money from the coffee shop we own.”
Thanks again for your love and support.
Sincerely,
Ashleigh
