Students at Palatine's Lincoln Elementary add joy to Starbucks cups
Lincoln Elementary School's principal says she's open to more community outreach opportunities after students at her Palatine school recently provided a jolt of kindness to coffee drinkers at a nearby Starbucks.
At the request of the Deer Grove Centre's Starbucks, students decorated hundreds of coffee cup sleeves with colorful art and kind and inspirational messages.
Lincoln Elementary Principal Mary Beth Knoeppel said she went to the Starbucks drive-through when the sleeves were used earlier this month and noticed a sign touting the school's effort. Lincoln Elementary is about 1½ miles from the Starbucks at 791 E. Dundee.
Knoeppel said she's open to other, similar opportunities for students to connect with the community.
"They enjoy art and they enjoy spreading the word of kindness, so it's good for everybody," she said.
A Starbucks representative said the Dundee Road store was overwhelmed by the positive response from customers who received the special coffee sleeves.
Knoeppel said the project coincided with #StartWithHello week in late September, which was meant to promote kindness and inclusion in schools. #StartWithHello is a program from the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise based in Newtown, Connecticut.
"We just put bins of sleeves out, and the teachers came and got them and the kids did them in their spare time," Knoeppel said. "They were super-excited about them. And then we dropped them off at Starbucks, and they were really excited to receive them."
Sixth-grader Bryson Landerman was among the students who was happy to work with the coffee sleeves.
"It helps us being kind and just making peoples' days," Bryson said. "And just saying 'hi' can make someone's day, just by being nice."
Another sixth-grader, Natalia Nunez, said she included hearts and smiley faces on one of her sleeves. She imagined the reaction from a patron who received a coffee with her handiwork on it.
"If they were having a bad day, they could read the little cup and they may have a good day for the rest of it," Natalia said.