At a Marshall Public School District board meeting, teachers and staff presented an update on secondary work‑experience programs that give students hands‑on job training and, in some cases, academic credit or paid work.

Nicole Janz, a special‑education teacher at Marshall High School, described the Tiger Cafe, a student‑run food and beverage operation that opened in October. Janz said the program uses equipment bought with a LIFT grant obtained about a year and a half ago and trains students to make smoothies and espresso‑style drinks, take payments with Square readers and rotate through specific job roles such as delivery, dishes and barista. "They go and they look at their work schedule, and so they might be on delivery. They might be on dishes. They might be on, the barista shift," Janz said.

Carrie Loft, an English‑learner teacher at Marshall High School, described the PACE Lab and other placements for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Loft said the PACE Lab exposes students to five job areas regardless of English level, and that 11th‑grade special‑education students attend for two quarters as part of an employability skills class. "This is kinda maybe for some of the lower, students who it's gonna be a struggle to graduate. We just wanna get them some skills," Loft said.

School staff said the district also expanded off‑site partnerships. A group of eight students now works at SMSU's dining center through a partnership with Chartwells; those students work about three hours per week and are paid through a Private Industry Council (PIC) arrangement, allowing them to list paid experience on resumes. Staff noted the SMSU placement gives students exposure to real‑world supervisors and rotating tasks such as dishroom work, food prep and janitorial duties.

Staff provided program details: students at the district's ALC can earn elective credit for working a set number of hours weekly (staff identified 15 hours per week as the relevant threshold); the district's career internship program has run roughly 15–18 years; and the PACE Lab has been operating about three years. Janz said initial Tiger Cafe proceeds remain in the program to buy supplies, and staff are exploring having students take on inventory and ordering duties in the future.

Presenters credited community mentors and partners for enabling a broad mix of internships—education, medical, HVAC, law enforcement and manufacturing were cited as past placements—and described equipment purchased for the Tiger Cafe (Vitamix blenders, an espresso machine, a conduction oven) and for manufacturing programs (a new CNC mill; a CNC plasma table ordered with grant funds).

Board members did not take formal action tied to the presentation. The item was presented as an informational update; staff answered board questions about scheduling (Tiger Cafe runs on specific class blocks and delivery days), supply ordering and resume help. Janz said Monday classroom time is used for related lessons such as resume and cover‑letter building. "So they'll all leave high school with that developed and ready to go," she said.

The presentation followed student recognition and preceded routine business items including approval of the consent agenda and bills. No policy changes or budget approvals were made during the presentation; staff said the programs rely on a mix of grant funds, partner agreements and program revenues.