EDGEWOOD-Every morning at Dixie Heights High school,customers pour into a special experiment:the district's first coffee shop run mostly by students with special learning needs. Well before classes start,students and teachers order Lattes,Cappuccinos and Hot Chocolates.Then,during the first period,teachers call in orders on their room phones,and students make deliveries.By closing time at 9:20a.m.,the shop usually sells 90drinks."Whoever made the chi tea,Ms.Schatzman says it was good,"Christy McKinley,a second year student,announced recently,after hanging up with the teacher. The shop is called the Dixie PIT,which stands for Power in Transition.Although some of the students are not disabled,many are,and the PIT helps them prepare for life after high school.They learn not only how to run a coffee shop but also how to deal with their affairs.They keep a timecard and receive paychecks,which they keep in check registers. Special-education teachers Kim Chevalier and Sue Casey introduced the Dixie PIT from a similar program at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Georgia.Not that it was easy.Chevalier's first problem to overcome was product-related.Should schools be selling coffee?What about sugar content?Kenton County Food Service Director Ginger Gray helped.She made sure all the drinks,which use non-fat milk,fell within nutrition guidelines. The Dixie PIT program was introduced in order to     .
raise money for school affairs do some research on nutrition supply teachers with drinks develop students'practical skills.