One Class at a Time: Bend HS DECA students revive ‘Java Bear’ coffee shop after pandemic

'We don't get paid, but we get paid in experience'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) –  Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and businesses in Central Oregon, the Java Bear coffee shop at Bend Senior High School has reopened, thanks to the efforts of Bend High’s DECA students.

DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America, a program which student and Bend High DECA Officer of Finance Quincy Berna has been involved with for two years.

“DECA was something that our business class introduced me to freshman year,” Bernal said. “It’s really about taking knowledge you learn in class and applying it to the real world of business.”

Iris Marshall, DECA’s vice president of hospitality, said the money they make from the Bear's Cave school store and the Java Bear helps cut down costs for attending the DECA State Career Development Conference.

“We don’t get paid, but we get paid in experience,” Marshall said. 

April McCarthy, the business career and technical education teacher at Bend High, said operating the school store and coffee shop helps students develop communication skills, as well as financial understanding.

“I feel like I’m extremely proud of them for their resilience and their wanting to get the store up and running, even though there were a lot of challenges,” McCarthy said. “Also, just getting the store back up to industry standards and health standards was challenging, but they all just pushed for it, and are still pushing to get the store up to what it used to be.”

The students will get to choose how to spend the $500 award from Mid Oregon Credit Union.