Salem High School students deliver coffee in Education for Work partnership

SALEM (WSLS 10) -- You know it's Friday when Salem High School Spartans are delivering coffee.

"It feels like an every day thing now," said student Turner Duffy. "I mean we do it every week and we get it done."

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Duffy is one of nearly a dozen special education students taking part in the school's Education for Work class partnership with Starbucks.

"Teachers love coffee and so our teachers stop by the local Starbucks regularly," explained principal Scott Habeeb.

Habeeb said workers at the Salem coffee shop asked teachers if they could help.

"This is a segment of our population that at some places might get overlooked but they become the center of the school on Fridays because they're doing something important. They're delivering coffee," he said.

Special education teacher Candice McNew says the impact is obvious.

"It's been quite impressive. To see their growth and them to take pride in delivering not only delivering but making the coffee," she said.

Starbucks provides everything-- the cups, coffee, cream and sugar, for free. The students gain even more delivering to more than 60 regulars and last minute orders every week.

"This allows students who need job skills to learn some very transferable skills that they can actually take into the marketplace with them after high school," Habeeb said. "This gives students an opportunity to be an integral part of our school life."

"To see how far they've come from start to finish like from spills and a close to doing it quite well. Yeah. It's impressive," said McNew.

She said the students develop a work ethic and social skills to take with long after leaving high school.

'It feels good," Duffy said. "It's all teamwork."

This is the first full school year of the Spartans/Starbucks partnership.