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Vienna Coffee Company visits campus, promotes brand

With midterms approaching, caffeine consumption is on the rise at the University of Tennessee.

The UPerk coffee shop welcomed students to partake in a free tasting provided by the Vienna Coffee Company Tuesday evening. UPerk, the not-for-profit coffee shop located in the UKirk ministry house, receives its coffee supply from the company which serves many local restaurants, churches and schools.

Students sampled both a Honduran and Costa Rican coffee and learned more about the production process.

“It was super cool,” Mary Grace Reynolds, UPerk’s hospitality intern, said. “Each coffee we tasted, we learned about where it’s from and the regions in which it was produced. It felt really special and exciting.”

Vienna Coffee Company provides samples of its new Foothills coffee at UPerk campus coffee house in Knoxville Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018. Lauren Claxton/TNJN

Phillip Hatter, director of coffee and training at Vienna, discussed the distinct flavor differences in the new Foothills Series Coffee. Hatter said Vienna takes pride in its product transparency and its ability to trace the coffee back to the production farms.

UPerk’s coffee, Hatter explained, is a combination of 40 percent Ethiopian coffee and 60 percent from Papua New Guinea. Vienna offers certified organic coffee and supports direct trade.

With a new location in the downtown Knoxville Regas Building, Vienna brews close to campus until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students will receive a discount if they bring their student ID. Students can also receive Vienna coffee every weekday until 11 p.m. at UPerk.

 

Open since August, UPerk offers coffee shop qualities in the middle of campus. All students are welcome. UPerk also hosts events like open mic nights, concerts and public speakers.

 

Featured Photo by Lauren Claxton

Edited by Lexie Little

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After School Programs in Tennessee

After school programs often provide food in the form of of snacks or dinner, computer time in the tech lab, social time and video game time in the games room that consists of Xbox, bean bags and board games, active play which includes gym and outside, and homework which includes homework help and tutoring These are the main parts that makes the club work smoothly and provides items to make sure a member is successful.

In Tennessee, 17% (170,645) of K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. Also, of all Tennessee children not currently enrolled in after school, 31% (263,754) would be likely to participate in an after school program if they were available in their neighborhood.92% of parents in Tennessee are satisfied with the after school program their child attends.18% (179,897) of Tennessee’s K-12 children participate in after school programs, including 21,786 kids in programs supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the only federal program dedicated to after school (tnafterschool.org).

 

 

 

After school and summer learning programs help Tennessee’s students achieve goals. After school programs help students do better in school, develop their work behaviors, and advance. The programs involve students in moving experiences that increase leadership, collaboration, and responsibility. In Tennessee, nearly 180,000 children and teens are enrolled in an after school program. After school and summer learning programs can show kids new academic and professional opportunities, especially in the STEM fields known as science, technology, engineering and math. It is critical to prepare all kids for the future. Between Tennessee parents: 92 percent are pleased with their child’s after school program, 75 percent say it’s significant for their children to have summer activities that help them sustain academic skills and learn new things, 74 percent say after school programs help children increase workforce skills, and 59 percent say their child’s after school program offers STEM learning opportunities (nebula.wsimg.com).

Families across America report that the space between work and school schedules can be up to 25 hours per week. Parental worries about after school care result in missed work time and decreased production that costs U.S. businesses up to $300 billion annually (nebula.wsimg.com). Between Tennessee parents: 78 percent say that after school programs help working parents keep their jobs, 83 percent agree that after school programs help give working parents peace of mind about their children when they are at work, 86 percent backs public funding for after school programs, and 88 percent backs public funding for summer learning programs (nebula.wsimg.com).

Businesses can partner with after school and summer programs to offer mentorships or internships to middle and high school students and invest in STEM activities for after school and summer programs. Also, Volunteers in after school programs share simple STEM-related activities to acquire interest in the careers to encourage after school programming and organize a task force in the community to create youth services where there are gaps to Create a Maker Space where youth and their families can discover and experiment (nebula.wsimg.com).

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Volshop to host ‘After Hours Party’ for students

On Tuesday, Sept. 12, the VolShop is holding an ‘After Hours Party’ for students to start the semester with some fun.

All students are invited to make their own ice cream sundaes with a variety of toppings to choose from. There will also be plenty of free cookies from Insomnia Cookies.

There will be fun activities, door prizes, games such as “minute to win it” and more. 

All activities during the party will be free.

The event will be located at the VolShop in the Student Union from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

For more information on this event, visit UT’s events page.

Featured Image by Seth Raborn

Edited by Kaitlin Flippo

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Opinion: Peppermint Trail of Treats offers fun holiday treats and encourages local shopping

The city of Knoxville is hosting an event called the Peppermint Trail of Treats, which began on Nov. 25 and will end on Jan. 8.

The purpose of the Peppermint Trail of Treats is to encourage people to shop at the unique shops in Market Square, while enjoying peppermint flavored treats.

In order to know where each business is located, there are giant peppermints placed in front of the local businesses.

Of course getting your dose of peppermint flavored hot chocolate and coffee or a peppermint and lavender facial is great; but, the trail of lights right across from the square are something to enjoy while visiting these local businesses.

The peppermint hot chocolate from Coffee and Chocolate tastes wonderful and their variety chocolate is good too.

Bluetique saw some business on Black Friday that they believe was encouraged by the Peppermint Trail of Treats.

“Black Friday especially, people would come in with their kids and would stay and shop to take advantage of the deals,” Quinlyn Zandi, an employee at Bluetique, said.

On the other hand, one business said that they have not seen much business just yet from the Peppermint Trail of Treats. “It hasn’t picked up yet, but as it gets closer to the holiday season and kids getting out of school we will see a pick up on the peppermint trail,” Lindsey West, an Earth To Old City employee, said.

The Peppermint Trail of Treats is a fun way to visit some local businesses and get those fun Christmas gifts. The trail of treats is also a fun way to get out and see a bit more of this interesting city.

Featured Image by Emily Haskew

Edited by Kaitlin Flippo