Fourth graders decorate coffee cup sleeves for library’s Read a Latte Cafe

NOVI — Those who “read a latte” will soon have another reason to do so.

Fourth graders throughout the Novi Community School District have decorated coffee cup sleeves to be handed out with hot drink purchases at the “Read a Latte Cafe” located inside the Novi Public Library Feb. 10-14, or while supplies last.

“I really like (the drink sleeves project) because I like helping to spread community cheer and kindness and tell people about the cafe,” student Harper Barbey, 9, said.

This is not the first time fourth grade students at Deerfield Elementary have decorated coffee sleeves. In December, they decorated sleeves for the local Starbucks to provide some holiday cheer.

After hearing about Deerfield’s collaboration with Starbucks, Kim Sinclair, Chartwells K12 director of food and nutrition services for the Novi Community School District, thought it would be the perfect way to market the Read A Latte Cafe and reached out to the Deerfield art teacher, Chelsea Reesbeck.

The cafe, run by Chartwells K12 and the district, offers the community a place to go for nourishment without having to leave the library. It also provides students with special needs in the Novi Adult Transition Center program a chance to learn and implement life skills. The cafe employs two people full time, one part-time, while helping to educate two NATC students.

However, many people don’t realize the cafe is there, according to Sinclair.

“It’s a great program, but it’s self-funded and they don’t get a lot of food traffic, just because it is hidden within the library,” Reesbeck said. “So when (Sinclair) asked if I would be interested in doing another collaborative project, I was all for it. I would much rather work with our district and do what I can to bring in money and revenue for this type of a program.”

She said the kids are decorating the sleeves to bring awareness of the cafe’s existence and some “Valentine’s Day cheer.”

According to Sinclair, the majority of the cafe’s business is done between 2:45 and 5 p.m. when the high school students get out of classes each day.

“It’s just not busy,” Sinclair said. “Here’s what I can tell you. The Novi High School students support the cafe. If it wasn’t for those high school students, we would not be in that program. They come over every day after school and they get themselves a latte or a cookie. … They really do keep us moving and shaking.”

Sinclair hopes that by utilizing the children’s art on the drink sleeves, more parents and community members will become aware of the cafe and patronize it more, so that it can remain open to help educate more individuals with special needs and benefit the community as a whole.

“My whole goal for this coffee sleeve (project) is just to bring awareness to this operation so that people know that this money all goes back to the Novi Community School District to  help support some of these great programs that we run,” Sinclair said.

Reesbeck said this might become a more frequent project if it goes over well. She is considering talking to Sinclair about other holiday themes.

“It was really fun designing the coffee sleeves. I got to choose the materials and see what looks good,” Harper said. “My hope is that when they get my design, I want them to feel, like, happy and, like, loved.”

Read A Latte Cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. They anticipate having about 500 coffee sleeves to pass out. Along with the sleeves, they will have holiday baked goods such as heart-shaped red velvet cake pops made by Susan Rudick, executive chef for Chartwells K12 at NCSD.