No Plans for Birdhouse Have Been School Board Approved

The Birdhouse, which included Ozzy’s Cafe and the school spirit shop, has not yet been approved by the school board in the construction plan to come back next year.

In the past Ozzy’s cafe has sold bakery items and beverages to students in the morning and during resource. With last year’s office and health room renovation, it has been removed completely. Former sales associate Jada Erickson said the most common item students bought at the shop were the food and drinks sold in the café. She said that a lot of students came in daily in the morning and during resource to purchase food and drink items, mainly coffee, smoothies, and bakery items.

“They would come in so often that I started to memorize their orders,” Erickson said.

Supervisor of Food & Nutrition Services, Monica Glorioso, says there has been talk about it coming back, but not in the same way as before. The whole shop would need to find a new location to conduct business.

“We did talk about some plans of having that closer to the cafeteria so there was discussion of moving that portion there,” Glorioso said.

The Birdhouse was just as important to staff as it was to students. The absence of The Birdhouse eliminated a place for students to shop for school apparel, and a place for business teachers to provide their students with business experience.

Business teacher Mike Kania has run the spirit shop in the past with his accounting students. As a part of their grade, the students would do the bookkeeping for the shop. With the elimination of The Birdhouse, his students will not get the hands-on real life experience this year that they did in the past.

“Everything is on hold right now until the new shop is created,” Kania said.

Without approval from the School Board to add The Birdhouse back into the building plan, there is no guarantee the shop will come back, leaving staff and students without a place to get their morning coffee and spirit wear.