When Dustin Homan first joined PPHS this past year, he was excited to hit the ground running with Passion Projects. His passion for connecting with students and community members has allowed his students to see the impact of their work far outside the traditional classroom.
One of Coach Homan’s recent projects was focused on something that is near and dear to many of our hearts - coffee! Inspired by his experience in Nicaragua working with Fabretto, which trains families to grow coffee as a sustainable income stream, he decided to bring his experience to life at PPHS and share the complex history and culture of coffee. Not to mention, everyone likes an excuse to have a cup of coffee at school!
Coach Homan had a variety of learning objectives and outcomes in mind for this project, “I want our students to understand and appreciate both the value chain and culture of coffee as well as the geography of where it is grown and its history”. While learning about the complex history and cultural importance of coffee, they also had the opportunity to practice a little science in regards to brewing methods, measuring sugar content, and understanding how to use coffee byproducts to reduce environmental impact and reduce waste by making soap.
As the capstone to their final product, students designed a coffee cart that will offer coffee and tea for students and staff. In addition to their on-site project, they are selling a custom-label coffee, which is pictured above, from Fabretto farms to raise money to support the coffee cart.
Homan shares that students have really enjoyed the project, although it probably helped that they got to drink coffee every afternoon! Coach Homan shares that, “the project has really allowed me to develop relationships with students since I'm a new teacher. Almost daily, a student would see me in the hallway before our passion project and ask me two questions, Are we drinking coffee today? and What are we going to do in passion project?” which was a cue to Homan that students were excited about the project.
Students were also lucky enough to get exposure to the local coffee industry first-hand, Alec from Tinker, Andrieu from Hubbard and Cravens, and our very own Coach Duffey all served as guest speakers and guest baristas. Students also got to visit the local Starbucks and Monon Coffee and the Hubbard and Cravens local roasting facility for some delicious, first-hand experience! Additionally, students were really excited to connect with Fabretto Farms through a Google Meet with Enrique all the way in Nicaragua.
Support the students’ coffee cart and enjoy some PPHS-branded coffee from Nicaragua by ordering your bags here!
Published on 12/7/2021