See for yourself
I started baking cookies four years ago at Land Hall as a way to spend time waiting for my ride home after Band of Sisters meetings. Each week the numbers got larger with no advertising just mids telling their friends. When I was up to marathoning baking at home 4 days a week, the parents stepped in and volunteered to have Parents Groups send cookies. We put them in our freezer and bring them down early Thursday mornings. Right now we have hundreds of parents from all over US sending homebaked cookies. It is a way that we can all show love to the mids and encourage them each week. We have gone up to as many as 520 students in an afternoon, and parents groups sending 200-300 dozen cookies a week. On holidays we try to do special things like a karoke, decorating Christmas ornaments for gifts, making gingerbread houses, etc.
Anyone who questions the worth of Cookie Cafe has should come for a day and see for yourself. It is one of the greatest morale boosters KP has, ask the students. We are there to give hugs of encouragement, a listening ear, my husband graduated from KP, was a prof, ran CAORF for 9 years, sailed for 12 years, he knows their world and is there for them. Everything is done on a volunteer basis and is costing the academy nothing. The students just relax, visit with friends, laugh, and enjoy meeting other students.
The school did a cute video of Cookie Cafe, go to You tube and type in
"Kings Point Spotlight Cookie Cafe. It is done to the music of Cookie Monster.
As far as the other academies NO, they do not have anything like this at all. But every single academy has come to ask how we do it, and how did all the parents across US get mobilized to work together? The parents are mobilized because we have a very special group of parents who really care for the students. It's as simple as that.
Cookie Cafe's secret is all the wonderful parents and relatives who want to show love in a very practical way to their mids at KP. The students, each week, get the message of love loud and clear, and appreciate it very much. It makes their week go better. Cookie Cafe is helping the morale, the grades, and the regiment by providing an oasis.
Come visit Cookie Cafe, you will leave smiling and knowing why it's important to the mids.