Schoolhouse 7 Hospitality & Café Operations Intern - High School EARN
Last Updated:Aug 28th, 2026
Schoolhouse 7 Hospitality & Café Operations Intern - High School EARN
Description
Position Summary
Schoolhouse 7 Café is seeking motivated high school and college students for a paid Hospitality & Café Operations Internship. This work-based learning experience provides students with hands-on exposure to the daily operation of a locally owned café and small business.
Interns will develop practical skills in hospitality, customer service, food and beverage preparation, point-of-sale technology, inventory management, merchandising, marketing, event operations, teamwork, and small-business management.
Rather than focusing solely on performing daily café tasks, interns will learn how the different functions of a hospitality business work together to create a positive customer experience and successful business operation.
Responsibilities
Primary Internship Responsibilities
Hospitality & Customer Experience
- Greet and assist customers.
- Learn professional customer-service techniques.
- Take customer orders accurately.
- Resolve routine customer questions with supervisor guidance.
- Learn drive-thru and front-counter service procedures.
- Develop communication and problem-solving skills.
Barista & Beverage Operations
- Learn espresso and coffee fundamentals.
- Prepare espresso beverages, brewed coffee, cold beverages and other café products.
- Learn drink recipes and portion standards.
- Learn appropriate use and cleaning of café equipment.
- Understand beverage presentation and quality control.
- Learn how speed, accuracy and consistency affect customer experience.
Food Preparation & Safety
- Learn proper food-handling procedures.
- Assist with preparation of approved café food products.
- Learn cleaning and sanitation procedures.
- Learn temperature-control and food-storage practices.
- Understand allergen awareness and cross-contact prevention.
Point-of-Sale & Business Technology
- Learn Schoolhouse 7's point-of-sale system.
- Enter and process customer orders.
- Learn basic cash-handling procedures.
- Understand discounts, promotions and loyalty programs.
- Learn how sales information is used by management to make business decisions.
Inventory & Cost Control
- Assist with inventory counts.
- Learn receiving and product-storage procedures.
- Learn product rotation and FIFO procedures.
- Identify waste and spoilage.
- Learn how portion control affects food and beverage costs.
- Assist with monitoring commonly used supplies.
Marketing & Merchandising
- Assist with café displays and merchandising.
- Participate in development of seasonal beverage or food promotions.
- Learn basic social-media and promotional concepts.
- Assist with photographing or presenting products for marketing when appropriate.
- Learn how promotions are evaluated based on customer response and sales.
Events & Community Engagement
- Assist with Schoolhouse 7 community and private events.
- Learn event setup, service and cleanup procedures.
- Understand how staffing and inventory needs differ for special events.
- Learn how a locally owned business builds relationships within its community.
Small-Business Operations
- Participate in periodic discussions with café management about:
- Revenue and expenses
- Labor costs
- Product costs
- Inventory
- Customer experience
- Marketing
- Scheduling
- Vendor relationships
- Community involvement
- Business profitability
Final Internship Project
Each intern will complete a small business improvement project during the internship.
Possible projects include:
- Developing a new seasonal beverage concept.
- Evaluating drive-thru customer experience.
- Developing a café marketing promotion.
- Reviewing product waste and recommending improvements.
- Creating a merchandising display.
- Evaluating customer feedback.
- Developing ideas to improve speed of service.
- Creating an event or community-engagement concept.
The intern will present their findings or recommendations to Schoolhouse 7 management near the completion of the internship.
Qualifications
- Current Indiana high school or college student.
- Dependable and willing to learn.
- Positive attitude and professional demeanor.
- Strong communication and teamwork skills.
- Interest in hospitality, business, entrepreneurship, food service or customer service.
- Ability to work scheduled shifts, including some evenings or weekends as applicable.
- Ability to comply with applicable Indiana and federal youth-employment requirements.
Previous café or restaurant experience is not required.
Learning Objectives
By completion of the internship, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate professional customer-service and hospitality skills.
- Prepare café beverages and food products according to established quality standards.
- Safely operate appropriate café equipment.
- Understand basic food-safety and sanitation procedures.
- Operate a modern point-of-sale system and understand the basic transaction process.
- Explain basic inventory, purchasing, receiving and waste-control procedures.
- Understand how product cost, pricing and portion control affect profitability.
- Assist with merchandising and promotional activities.
- Participate in café events and community-focused activities.
- Demonstrate effective workplace communication and teamwork.
- Understand scheduling, workflow and labor considerations in a hospitality business.
- Identify the major functions required to operate a locally owned small business.
- Complete a final improvement project related to café operations, customer experience or marketing.