Mitchell House opens Steamin’ Bean coffee shop on premises

Excitement marked the opening of Mitchell House’s Steamin’ Bean, the school’s on-campus coffee shop last Thursday. The school hopes to transfer a culture of entrepreneurial thinking among learners for them to start their own small business ventures in order to create financial independence.
The coffee shop is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 08:00 till 15:00 and offers delicious treats that include cakes in mugs, peppermint crisp tarts, Oreo cream delight tarts and Greek yoghurt tarts, cappuccino, hot chocolate and a variety of teas.
Headmaster Andrew Cook indicated that the shop was a platform for learners to acquire both entrepreneurial and life skills for them to be employable in the future reminded that companies need people with experience hence what they learn at Steamin’ Bean would be added to their curriculum vitae.
Mitchell House Head of the Transition Unit (the Hub), Lynne Cocks emphasised that the unit was established in January this year and it accommodates both challenged students who graduated from the Enrichment Centre as well as learners from the mainstream college who have embraced an alternative curriculum that better suits their learning needs. “The Accelerated Christian Education (Ace) system which is a paced system has been registered and we are officially an Ace service provider. The system also enables our learners from the college to prepare to write the General Education Diploma which is equivalent to the National Senior Certificate. The Hub is abuzz with continual activity from learners moving in and out between learning activities within the Hub and simulation units throughout Mitchell House,” Cocks explained.
She further outlined that currently the simulation units comprise of the hostel laundry unit, maintenance division, events department, second-hand school uniform shop and the newly established coffee shop, the Steamin’ Bean. She added that their focus was employment possibilities and small venture opportunities within the hospitality industry as it currently provides numerous opportunities in South Africa – especially in Limpopo. Cocks highlighted that learners train within the simulation units with specialised facilitators and reiterated that this affords them an opportunity to build up job experiential hours that can be included in their resume.
Visual portfolios are compiled for each learner and these are updated on a daily basis, Cocks explained and went on to clarify that the portfolio then provides real evidence of what the learner is able to do. “Through our programme of exposure and training, we are empowering our learners with skill sets that add value to their lives. Watching them develop through repetition with guidance, one can see them stand tall and willingly tackle tasks that produce physical results,” Cocks stated and concluded by urging people with a great liking for sweet-tasting foods to visit the coffee shop for some mouth-watering treats.

Story and photos: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za