CJ Morris Elementary fifth graders read a latte at Starbooks Café

WALNUT, CA--Welcome to Starbooks Café! C.J. Morris Elementary fifth grade classes transformed into the world’s most popular coffee house with baskets of books, tasty drinks, and donuts on Wednesday.

The trio of teachers, Megan Cowles, Rachel Harrington, Monica Power, decked out in trademark green aprons as baristas for the annual book-tasting event.

Students sipped on chocolate milk, lemonade, and apple juice (in clear plastic cups with straws, of course!) while munching on sprinkle donuts.

Groups rotated through tables leisurely sampling paperbacks with designated themes including mystery, historical fiction, and biographies.

“We like to host the Starbooks Café early in the year so students can discover the great books we have in our class libraries,” Cowles explained on August 24.

“And they can start working toward their AR (Accelerated Reader) goals.”

The coffee house classrooms were decorated with Reading is Brewing posters, striped paper awnings, menu boards, with jazz music softly playing to set the mood.

“If we like a book we write it down and order it!” shared Romer Gutierrez- Carmona while perusing the autobiography of famed baseball player Roberto Clemente.

“I’ve already picked out four books!” said Jason Pham sitting at the graphic novel table.

“I’m waiting to go to the biography table because I really like those kinds of books,” added classmate Sophya Cortez.

“This is one of my favorite events - I love bringing the joy of reading to our students!” Harrington shared.