Walpole students serve goodies, raise money for children with special needs

By Keith Ferguson
Paula Kavolius, founder of the House of Possibilities, choked back tears as Michael McCarthy, 11, gave her an oversized homemade check for $900 and a hug.  

Cafe 21 was founded at Fisher School in Walpole last year as a creative setting and means to teach Shevon Kuznezov's special education students math skills in real life situations.

On Thursday afternoons the children help make snacks and breakfast foods to sell to teachers, parents and other students along with coffee, hot chocolate and tea on Friday mornings.

But a Thursday afternoon early this spring was a little more special than normal.

Before delving into cookie creation, five students presented the poster board worth $900 signed simply by Ms. K. The memo read "donation."

"It was the most meaningful donation I've ever received," said Kavolius.

House of Possibilities is an organization with the goal of building a large facility to help special needs individuals reach their full potential. Kavolius began the organization in 2003 because her son had special needs.

She said many of the parents of the students involved in Cafe 21 are volunteers at the House of Possibilities, which is how her charity got involved.

In her line of work, Kavolius said, the people she helps often don't know they're being helped. She has taken the philosophy "you'll know (they're thankful) by the smiles on their face."

"To see those kids yesterday, I can almost not say it," she said. "They truly understand you're trying to make a better life for them. It was unbelievable."

When Cafe 21 began, a drawing of a thermometer was constructed and placed on the wall of room 21 to mark Cafe 21's goal of raising $500. In late March, purple mercury had exploded past the $500 apex to where $900 had to be marked by a post-it note.

"We need a new thermometer," speech and language pathologist Erica Dunn said to her students.
"Cafe 21 is awesome," Michael said.

"It's so fun," Haley Groden, 12, agreed.

All week, Kuznezov's students look forward to putting down their journals, reading books and math problems in favor of selling their goods.

"Fridays are the highlight of our week, everyone's," Kuznezov said.

Students and teachers go through recipes Thursday then put the ingredients together. Teachers do the baking Thursday night for Friday's sale.

"The teachers have been so generous," Kuznezov said.

Brian Chiem, 11, made tea and coffee to order for customers while Noelle Borchardt, 11, said her most enjoyable part of Cafe 21 is making hot chocolate for visitors.

Helping to raise money for the House of Possibilities is Brian's favorite part of the job, he said.

Kiki Tripp, 12, greeted people while holding hands with her high school pen pal, Elizabeth Higgins.

High school students visit Fisher every sixth day for a course.

Kiki spoke and showed pictures of room 21's December project, crafting scarves for the needy.

Kuznezov said community service is an integral part of her lessons. She said her students learned why "giving to others even though you don't know them" is important. They were rewarded by letters of thanks.

Kuznezov said she would continue Cafe 21 next year, even though her students would be graduating to middle schools. She also said there has been interest in starting similar activities at the middle school level.

With their goal met and almost doubled, Kuznezov said a new particular goal was not in site, which means the sky is the limit.

"We're just going to keep going," she said.