Life in the Honeycomb has continued to grow since Mr. and Mrs. Profetto took over. The EHHS Honeybees have been hard at work supplying goods to our hardworking teachers and staff. But how was the Hive built? What really goes into making all the honey? Our Beekeeper Mr. Profetto gives us the inside scoop!
What is the Hive Cafe, and how was this class started? Well, the Hive Cafe is a student-run luncheon for teachers and staff at EHHS. Students working in Mr. Profetto’s class learn valuable life skills about working in customer service. They work behind the scenes cooking, packaging, serving, and checking people out. The Hive wasn’t always so well put together. Mr. John Profetto “Beekeeper” of the cafe states, “Well it was originally called the Cafe Maestro; Maestro means teaching kitchen.” The Cafe Maestro was brought back during the 2022-23 school year and involved primarily teacher sit-down lunches. For this school year Mr. Profetto has upgraded to a grab and go service where teachers place orders and come for pick ups rather than sit downs. The whole cafe idea was brought to them by the school, “As far as I know [the cafe class] has never happened before. So we (The Profetto’s) decided that if we were going to do it we should do it.” I think we can all agree that the Profetto’s were perfect for this challenge!
What goes into running the Cafe? Mr. Profetto explains how being married to his co-teacher has impacted the success of the Hive Cafe tremendously, “We would not be able to do what we do if Mrs. Profetto and I weren’t married and living together. I mean the car rides together day in and day out, without living together the cafe would be a mess. It takes a lot of coordination.” These two are definitely the cutest Bee Keepers I’ve ever seen! Working together and having a great communication system has become an important part of keeping the honey flowing. Profetto explains that without coordinating with the culinary classes, they would never be able to provide for the teachers. The Hive Cafe has become super beneficial for the teachers providing low price good quality food for the hard working Yellowjacket teachers; they want to make sure they serve the best and only the best.
The Hive is evolving and growing! Mr. Profetto goes onto say a big change the Hive has undergone, “The first year [The Hive Cafe class] did very little cooking. It was left to the culinary classes to cook for the Cafe, but this year we did a lot more cooking.” Mr. Profetto explains that this year they’ve created more of a divide between the class. That way there’s more space and everyone has a job. He continued, “Now we’re realizing what we need to do is split up half the class. One half will run the dining room and half the class handles the menu.” The divide and conquer system has been the best improvement the cafe has come up with. They also moved from doing sit in lunches every Wednesday to doing walk in orders and pick ups. Hive worker, Dayanara Loja explains, “I learned the importance of communication in the kitchen and time management.” She also goes on to say how working at the Hive has helped her create bonds with others during work and passing time. Not only is the class evolving, but relationships evolve within the class as well!
In conclusion the Hive Cafe has set school records for sure. The students have learned valuable life skills needed to work in the food industry. The Profetto’s have dedicated themselves to ensuring the students get the best of the best working for the Hive Cafe, and they make sure the teachers get the best quality lunch they can find. The Hive has definitely made its mark on EHHS and we wish it the best of luck in all its future endeavors.
