As the hallway is set with equipment, and a habitat of some baby chicks, peaceful pop music plays from different artists, the scent of popcorn and cotton candy, a crowd of students set outside of the farmers trading post, but how did it start?
‘Grub Grill’ opened in 2009, the staff loved it because they would pay to enjoy a prepared meal for lunch. Grub Grill provided special education students the opportunities to learn real-world skills. In 2020, COVID-19 affected Grub Grill’s ability to serve meals to staff.
The legacy of Grub Grill still lives on after the COVID-19 era, which is how ‘The Farmers Trading Post & Cafe’ opened in February 2021. The Farmers Trading Post sells a variety of items, open for students and staff to purchase, run by special education teachers by Barbara Garza and Grace Foust.
”Our classroom will [create] a lot of the food items,” Garza said. “Our classroom does candles, car fresheners, shirt heat pressing, and Nathan Hasten’s class is [making] cotton candy with the support of Luis Delgadillo.”
With the shop opening each Friday, most of the best selling products are food related, but aside from product making, there’s multiple students buying from the trading post and multiple students working behind the scenes
”We brainstormed and started to think of ways to work on their vocational skills,” Foust said. “We’re teaching them real world and real life skills.”
With the trading post opening on some occasions outside of Fridays, they like to make products focused around special occasions and holidays. On Mardi Gras they made pancakes, and on Valentine’s Day they made chocolate covered strawberries.
“What I do there is help out the customers,” junior Omar Duarte said. “I also help out in the kitchen, then try to help out my peers.”
The operations that are seen during the trading post is a representation of cooperation, teamwork, collaboration and alliance. Their creations are what bring everyone together and for a good reason.
“I would like to say a big thank-you to all of our staff,” Garza said. “Everything that we’re able to do is because we’re such a strong team.”
