On Monday, April 29th our student council members that work on our coffee cart here at school took a field trip to Intuition Coffee + Juice in downtown Peoria. The owner Ty Paluska taught our students about the roasting process from coffee cherry to a roasted bean, that's ready for sale.
Intuition is dedicated to purchasing both ethically sourced coffee and setting a standard in the area with a sustainable business model. They recently won an award at the Clean Water Celebration we attended last week.
We were taught the science behind coffee roasting and were able to see how Mr. Paluska uses technology to consistently roast beans so that they have the same taste. Our students were able to walk through the roasting process and helped weigh and bag coffee and get it ready for sale both in their shop and at Hyvee. Our students were able to ask valuable questions about job skills and business ownership including what Ty's favorite part of owning a business is, how they deal with difficult customers and how they try our and select new menu items.
Brentlee in 5th grade asked Mr. Paluska, "What made him want to start a coffee shop?" Paluska shared that today his favorite part of owning his business is building a good place to work for his employees and running a business he knows is doing it's best for it's community and environment, but that at the heart of things he appreciates how coffee and coffee shops bring people from all walks of life together.
Before we ended our tour and lesson, Ty showed us the composting set up they have inside of Intuition. They work with a local company called Better Earth Logistics that picks up their compost weekly, just like a garbage services, and turns all your cups, to-go bowls, and food waste back into soil.
A big thank you to Ty and Kami Paluska for letting us come in and giving us your time and attention. The students learned a lot about coffee and business ownership, and had a valuable learning experience. Connecting our students with our community and local business owners has been a very valuable experience for our student council leaders.
