JACKSON TWP — Thursday morning dawned cold and windy with a blanket of overnight snow covering trees and roads.

It was a perfect day for the grand opening of Grounds for Thought, a coffee shop selling hot coffee, tea, cappuccino and healthy snacks to Seneca Valley Senior High school students, staff and faculty.

Staffed by special education students in a faculty planning room off the senior high's main lobby, Grounds for Thought is open from 7:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. every school day.

Jessica Pyle, the transition coordinator for students in the Individualized Education Plan, said the shop grew out of an earlier coffee delivery service.

“We started in the 2014-2015 school year serving coffee and tea to the faculty on the secondary campus,” said Pyle, referring to the middle school and school district office.

“We saw the benefits to the students both socially and economically, and we wanted to expand on that,” she said.

A full-fledged coffee operation could provide vocational training to students and help them reach their employment and independent living goals, Pyle said.

The coffee shop became an all-school project. Special education students applied for one of the 28 positions available just as they would for a job.

The Seneca Valley High fine arts department created a video publicizing a contest to name the business, as well as its “coming soon” sign.

Pyle said the food service department loaned equipment; graphic arts students made the logo, signs and menu; creative wood design made the whiteboard; and the building and grounds department built a cabinet, installed equipment and hung curtains and signs.

Local businesses donated coffee and cappuccino machines, hats and serviced the machines, Pyle said.

After a four-day soft opening in which the shop served only faculty members, Grounds for Thought opened Thursday during the first three periods of the school day. Each period requires two baristas, a cashier, two prep workers and a customer liaison worker who answers questions, fills out order slips, wipes down counters and restocks supplies.

Pyle said it's a cash-only operation.

“We give students an opportunity to work with money,” she said. “And the skills to work the register.”

Hannah Knapp, a Seneca Valley High School junior, worked as a barista during the grand opening.

“The business was good, I loved it,” Hannah said.

“We trained on the coffee machines. We had coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, Gatorade and iced tea. The teachers were our biggest customers,” Hannah said, adding she'd like to work in a coffee shop when she graduated.

Hannah's fellow barista, sophomore Margie Elliott, agreed that the opening was a success.

“It went good. It was my first time doing it, and I got used to it. I was able to keep up with the orders I had,” she said.

Darlene Carmack, the school district's food services director, said all the food sold by the shop — yogurt and whole-grain muffins — comply with USDA Smart Snack requirements.

Making sure the operation goes as smoothly as it did on the first day is the job of Stacey Tofanelli, the coordinator of the coffee shop.

“I consider myself a job coach,” said Tofanelli. “I will be here every day the coffee shop is open.”

“Today they got much busier than they were used to. The students were chomping at the bit for coffee,” Tofanelli said.

But she didn't have to come in to smooth out rough spots or bottlenecks.

“It's a well-oiled machine. Everybody seems to have jumped on it and run with it, ”she said.