Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

WJMS Knightly Cafe up and running for another year of delicious coffee and treats

The Knightly Cafe at WJMS is open to the public on Fridays. Place your order in advance by contacting Patty Johnson at pjohnson@bullochschools.org.
knightly4
WJMS teacher Simone Lane receives her order from students in the Knightly Cafe. Credit: Patty Johnson

Mrs. Patty Johnson's class at William James Middle School has the popular WJMS Knightly Cafe back up and running for another school year. The cafe provides delicious coffee and food, prepared by Johnson's special education class, to faculty, staff, and even members of the public on Friday of each week.

Since the cafe's founding several years ago, the students have expanded their weekly offerings and even put out a cookbook of favorite recipes. They take pride in both preparing and serving the food each week.

Students learn life skills as they prepare the food for the cafe. (Photo Courtesy Patty Johnson)

The cafe held its grand opening on September 12, 2019, and was founded in partnership with Bitty and Beau's Coffee of Savannah, with the full support of the WJMS administration.

Johnson previously shared with Grice Connect how valuable an experience this is for her students.

“Our students are incredibly excited,” she said of the project in 2020. “We were looking for a way to take the abstract concepts that are hard for our students and make them more concrete and easier for them to understand. This is a way to teach about how to make a plan, money, how to create a budget, income, and debt – all life skills that are important to know.”

Students assist each other in food prep. (Photo Courtesy Patty Johnson)

In this way, the cafe aligns perfectly with William James Middle's mission of "preparing students for success and enhancing community value." In the introduction of the cookbook, Johnson and fellow teacher, Joe Dodson, explain how it grew into what it is today.

"Our original plan was small; a rolling cart, some coffee, and the opportunity for our students to interact with people outside our classroom," they wrote. "Our little cafe was quickly embraced by not only the faculty and staff of William James Middle School, but by the community as a whole. We were overwhelmed by the interest to support our students, and so our plan evolved into something so much larger than we could have imagined."

All proceeds benefit the Knightly Cafe and other learning experiences for the school’s special education classes. 

To receive the weekly menu and order form, you may contact Johnson at pjohnson@bullochschools.org. Ordering begins on Monday of each week, and pickup is always on Friday. Members of the public can contact Johnson to arrange a pickup time. (Remember that a state-issued photo ID is required to enter any Bulloch County school. Please abide by all visitor policies when picking up your order.)