Special education students offered free vanilla and chocolate milkshakes on Tuesday to support the teachers as contract negotiations continue.

“We decided to make milkshakes for teachers to get them through this difficult time and bring some joy,” special education teacher Regina Morrone said.

Contract negotiations between the West Chicago Teachers’ Association and the Board of Education began in April 2016 but no contract has been reached. Teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 13, 2017.

Sixty teachers came by for the milkshakes.  

Regarding the teachers’ reactions, Morrone said, “Every teacher I talked to said they were delicious and very thankful.”

The event was run by students that are a part of the transition program.

“(These) are students with disabilities who are 18 to 21 (years old). Their program runs after their high school years in our school,” Morrone said.

The program was created in 2009 to help students with learning disabilities.

“(The program is) trying to provide those students with real-life experiences. They interact with customers, they take inventory of the business, they take orders, they make the coffee and they also practice working on change,” Morrone said. “(These are) skills that they would need if they were to try to find a job somewhere out in the community.”

Besides showing their support for teachers, the event was also created to promote the coffee shop and business these students run.

“The other goal for them was to promote their business and they had flyers out promoting their smoothies, coffee, and tea,” Morrone said.

The transition program began a coffee business back in 2010.

Their business runs from Monday through Thursday and it’s open from 2nd through 9th periods in room 159. The shop is open for both students and staff. They also have a delivery system, teachers can call extension 6247.

The prices vary depending on the size and kind of the beverage.

The program does not know whether or not they will hold another event but Morrone said, “It was a great experience for them (students) to communicate with staff members and meet new faces in the building.”