Warrior Run’s Defenders’ Café

The Defenders’ Café is a vocational program in the Warrior Run High School in Turbotville, PA. The purpose of the café is to teach students who are receiving life skills training and autistic support, vocational skills such as budgeting, computer, ordering, cooking, cleaning, teamwork and time management. Students follow checklists for eight different jobs in the café and their performance is tracked. This data gained shows the students’ progress and readiness for a community-based work internship. The Defenders’ Café also fosters the relationship between special education students and their general education peers. Students and staff come to the café for the social atmosphere and know the Defenders’ Café staff by name. It has become a place where events are held and students can spend time together, without there being a distinction between the two groups of students. The Defenders’ Café is open daily Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. for all students and staff to purchase breakfast items. Profits from the café are used to fund monthly incentive field trips for Defenders’ Café staff and all students who participate in the Work Internship Program. Students have taken field trips to the movies, swimming, Reptiland, Knoebels Grove, pumpkin patch, restaurants, bowling, and more.