Do you ever wish you could have a Monday morning pick-me-up? An MIA coffee bar might just do the trick. Personally, I have no interest in waking up earlier than I have to just to get overpriced coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts before heading to school. Still, most days I find myself envious of people with coffee cups, wishing that I had something to wake me up and give me energy for yet another seven hour school day. Students of MIA face no shortage of hard work, and it can be tiring at times. Especially for procrastinators, the workload may tend to keep you awake longer than you please. Hearing the dreaded alarm sounding at 7 am, staying in bed for “just 10 more minutes,” and brushing your teeth while practically asleep- all signs point to: in need of more energy. The opening of a coffee bar could be a huge hit amongst students who didn’t get enough sleep the night before, or those who just want to boost their focus in class. 

Creating a coffee bar would yield numerous benefits to our school as a whole. First off, as I previously mentioned, this would allow for students to be more concentrated during a school day. Not only that, caffeine has proved through numerous studies that it increases productivity by blocking out adenosine receptors, which are what make us feel sleepy. Coffee & Health has found that “a single 60mg caffeine dose elicited a clear enhancement of sustained attention and alertness, contentment and mood.” The site suggests that there are limitations to how much caffeine one should consume in a day. As long as students know how much is enough to wake them up and not cause increased anxiety, the coffee bar will only pose benefits to our school. The elimination of drowsiness would be helpful to teachers, as they wouldn’t have to deal with the occasional kid falling asleep in class, and would overall have more attentive students. Caffeine can even improve your mood, which would create a more positive learning environment, and a better attitude towards learning. 

It is important to note that putting in a coffee bar could be an additional source of profit for our school. We could direct these profits into a variety of areas. To state the obvious, part of it would go back into purchasing equipment and supplies for the coffee bar, in order for it to continue to generate revenue. In addition, it could be a great opportunity for fundraising for school dances, trips, and more. The money earned could help pay for decorations, renting out where the dance is held, and the food catering. If profitable enough, it could even lower the ticket prices by paying off expenses that would usually be covered by the students’ tickets. In terms of school trips, the money raised would also cover additional fees, such as transportation. It could also be put towards giving students money for meals that are not included (lunch). 

The question that arises with all of this is: who would run it? The simple answer is MIA students. Not only would a coffee bar beneficially affect us in terms of money and energy, it could also serve as a valuable teaching moment for those who run it. It will teach students the constituents of managing or running a business. Especially for students who are interested in entrepreneurship, this opportunity would allow them to learn in a real-life situation; this could also help them decide what type of career they would like to pursue in the future.

Of course, this work would not go unaccounted for. These students giving up their time to help would be rewarded with volunteer hours. As we all know, it is a requirement to volunteer for at least 100 hours to graduate. This would in turn make the job more appealing, attracting more students to help them learn these valuable skills.