Baldwin’s student-run cafe, the Baldwin Bean, will open Monday with updated menus and expanded operating hours.
The Bean will be open all four blocks each day, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at 1:40 to give workers time to set up each day and then clean up. It will be open during Highlander Time if students want to eat their lunches there, but the Bean will not be selling food or drinks then.
Eric Jankoski, who runs the Bean, said that during class periods, students will be allowed to stay however long their teacher permits. The Bean will still require a pass to enter, and only a select amount of passes are allowed in at a time.
The cafe’s menus, meanwhile, have been updated.
“We’ll have one menu for blocks one and two, and then a slightly different menu for blocks three and four,” Jankoski said. “In the morning, it’ll be a lot of the traditional stuff that we’ve had in the past. In the afternoon, we’re going to have snacks and more grab-and-go things.”
The afternoon menu items will sometimes include entrees such as pizza, cheeseburgers, and chicken sandwiches when still available after lunches.
New snacks and drinks have also been added to the menu. Students will be able to buy chips, beef jerky, and fruit cups during blocks three and four, among many other items. There will also be a new drink called a Welch’s Slush Pouch.
Drinks like lemonades, iced teas and lattes will be sold in the morning during blocks one and two, and then any that are left will be sold during blocks three and four.
The changes in operating hours were made possible due to the new block schedule introduced this year. Jankoski found that keeping the Bean open all day would be possible because some students who have study hall or a shortened schedule were interested in working there during those times.
“We reached out to students who either had a study hall or an early release, or a late arrival,” Jankowski said. “With that, we were able to identify 40 to 50 students who were interested.”
Since its opening in 2018, the Bean has operated on a Partners model that pairs students of varying abilities together to teach employability skills and promote inclusion. That will continue, but this year there will be increased opportunities for students from study halls, early release, or late arrival.
“It was to create job opportunities for some of our students with special needs,” Jankowski said. “We’ll still have the Partners component for some parts of it. But then there will be other times when the students who signed up will have the opportunity to participate.”
Senior Ella Schwarzmiller, a barista at the Bean this year, found inspiration for working there in her admiration for the Best Buddies and other inclusion programs.
“I wanted to work at the Bean because I love being involved in Best Buddies and promoting inclusion,” she said.
Other than being a quick breakfast or snack option for Baldwin students and faculty, the Bean is a great place for making school-wide connections.
“It is important because you can talk to people who you might not normally talk to and make new friends,” Schwarzmiller said. “My favorite thing about the Bean is the atmosphere, because everyone has a place.”
Jankoski agrees that the bean has a great energy.
“I just love the atmosphere. I love that some students have their ‘usual,’ ” he said. “And seeing the smiles on the faces of both the students who are working and the ones coming in.”
Schwarzmiller looks forward to this year at the Bean.
“I am very excited for the new changes, especially that The Bean will be open all day and the exciting new menu changes.”
Junior Cody Trifanoff also is excited for the new hours.
“I get hungry a lot throughout the school day. I think it would be nice whenever I have the time, I can have a bite to eat or even a drink if I need some caffeine,” he said.
Sophomore Bella Collins agreed.
“I think it’s going to be better that it is open all day because it gives people more time to go,” Collins said.
