Welcome to the Black Knights Café, where the recipe for success is always on the menu.

During the school year, vocational students with Mrs. Jones and Ms. Williamson at Marion Junior/Senior High School collaborate to research and decide what type of food items they’d like to cook or bake, then offer for sale. The food items are sold to staff and students in the building and during the past school year, the students were focused on ways to use more local ingredients for the food they make that will support area business.

Students begin the year by completing the NYS ServSafe Food Handling Course, then get to work in the kitchen. Items like brownies, cookies, coffee, milkshakes and cake pops are offered daily and everything is prepared and made by the students. Included in this process is putting together a shopping list, how much the ingredients cost and how much the Café should charge for each item. 

Last fall, students came up with the idea to make and sell pies for Thanksgiving. Orders were taken by Marion staff and the students sold 20 apple pies and 14 pumpkin pies. The apples were purchased from Morgan Farms in Marion and this spring, the Café began purchasing eggs from Knucklehead Farms thanks to the suggestion of a Marion student. 

Proceeds from the sales go back toward purchasing ingredients for the new food that will be made the following week. And the Café has been such a surprising success that there are extra funds. Students will decide at some point what to do with the extra funds with options such as local charities and/or organizations. 

“Ms. Williamson and I are beyond proud of how far the Café has come this year and we can’t wait to see what the next year brings,” said Mrs. Jones.