Baltimore County’s newest coffee shop is doing more than just serving up an affordable cup. It’s also giving select students with disabilities a place to build their employment skills.

The student-run stand, called Reaching Higher Grounds, is housed in the district’s employee development center in Timonium. For two hours each morning, the students in charge greet customers, man the cash register and work the Keurig in the back.

Face-to-face service is a key skill for the students to work on, said Bernadette Fotopoulos, liaison for the county’s post-high school education program.

“We saw it as an opportunity to meet a need of supporting our staff and co-workers with caffeine and having the work-based learning opportunity of running the coffee shop,” she said.

The first week has been rocky, Fotopoulos said, with snow delaying start dates and an official grand opening. But the eight students on staff have been taking the time to prepare.

Donald Griffin, 20, said he’s tried every role behind the counter. Making the coffee is his favorite, he said. But the biggest lesson he’s learned so far is how to operate the cash register.

“We have tea, we have coffee flavors, hot chocolate,” he said while greeting customers last Monday. “It’ll be only two dollars.”

The coffee stand’s revenue funnels into Baltimore County schools’ charity foundation. Most of the customers so far have been district employees.

“There are some people whose offices are in this building, and they come every day,” Fotopoulos said. “But also this building is open to visitors on a daily basis who are coming for professional development. So we want to make sure that we're known to the visitors, just as well as the residents.”

Fotopoulos said she hopes the grand opening ceremony next Tuesday will help spread the word.

“The opportunity [for the students] to show off their skills and their capabilities while providing a service for their community is really powerful and valuable,” she said.