Photo courtesy of Moose Mountain Coffee Bar & Roastery

When Craig Middle School science teacher Jessica Atwood moved to Abilene before the 2020-21 school year, she hoped to find a spot in town that would indulge one of her favorite hobbies: craft coffee. 

She quickly found that Abilene had numerous spots where she could enjoy a latte, breve, affogato, or other styles of craft coffee. Not long after moving to town, she saw something on Facebook that impressed her, and she made a mental note for later.

“I’ve lived in several towns, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of locally owned coffee shops in Abilene when we moved here,” Atwood said. “Not long ago, I saw a post on Facebook showing coffee sleeves that a teacher’s class had decorated for National Kindness Day (in the fall each year). I loved that it combined coffee and education and thought it would be great to do at some point.”

That time was earlier this spring. Drawing from the inspiring Facebook post she had seen and remembered, Atwood called a few coffee shops, hoping to create a partnership that would allow Craig students to decorate coffee cup sleeves that might inspire their customers. Several shops didn’t respond, but Moose Mountain Coffee Bar gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to the venture, and a project called “Koffee Kindness” was launched.

Earlier this year, every class at Craig Middle School participated during advisory periods, and students decorated almost 1,000 coffee cup sleeves that have been given away on Moose Mountain coffee cups. Some sleeves were adorned with drawings, some with inspirational quotes, some with Bible verses, and some with song lyrics. The students were free to be creative in decorating their cup sleeves.

“The students and staff were both excited that our students’ creations would be out in the public to cheer up the people of our community,” Atwood said. “I think it made our students feel seen and provided joy knowing that they would be brightening someone’s day.”

The process went so well that Moose Mountain has requested other groups in town join the students at Craig in decorating the coffee cup sleeves to make it a permanent experience for their customers.

Atwood said she is already planning to do the cup sleeve decoration project for National Kindness Day (Nov. 13, 2024), for holidays, and other occasions in the future.