If someone were to walk through the THS commons, they may come upon a small booth, located right next to the cafeteria, with… students working there?

Bear Beans is Tahoma High School’s beloved drink cafe—a staple in the exam-ridden lives of THS’s high-achieving students.

Located in the THS Commons, Bear Beans has sold all sorts of drinks for a number of years—from italian sodas to mochas, to loaded drinks—but it didn’t start out that way.

According to PTA member Beth Howard, who runs the booth, “What started as a parent-run PTA coffee stand has turned into a real live business in the middle of our school…Now it’s a place students get training and help mentoring the next group of kids.”

Observing the student interest in drinks, Bear Beans saw an opportunity within the interest—sell the drinks underclassmen couldn’t leave school to get, provide the school with money to support said students, and offer more affordable prices than commercial-brand coffee.

Bear Beans isn’t just a part of the THS community, but a part of its legacy—a long line of students interacting with each other and adding a little more caffeine to the school.

Howard started working at Bear Beans as soon as she found out about it, and her son even works there as well.

“I’ve worked in restaurants my entire life…I used to be a wedding coordinator and put on weddings for a large restaurant and then I started my own business… I realized I couldn’t do that with kids so I let that go.” Howard recalls.

Esha Vijay, a sophomore at THS who works at Bear Beans, describes the experiences she’s gained from working at Bear Beans and how it, “…helped me put myself ‘out there’ more, and make friends with people who weren’t in any of my classes.”

Howard frequently makes visits to popular cafes to find inspiration from their menus, in order to further promote Bear Beans to the THS community, and even aspires to getting a canning machine… should the budget be understanding.