The smell of freshly ground coffee wafts through the air as a barista announces that a caramel latte is ready, drawing students in for a quick morning pick-me-up.

But this isn’t Starbucks. This is Owlspresso. 

Student Council’s “Owlspresso” coffee shop opened for the 2024-2025 school year on Monday, Aug. 19. Currently, the shop is offering a variety of drinks, including lattes, macchiatos and non-coffee refreshers. 

Former manager, senior Hannah Rahe, detailed what Owlspresso means to her. 

“The coffee shop is really fun to work in. We get to talk to a lot of people we don’t usually get to talk to so I really enjoy it,” Rahe said.

Rahe was a manager at the coffee shop from her freshman year to her junior year. She is now serving as the Student Council President. 

Olathe West was the first school in the Olathe district to open a coffee shop. It has been entirely student-run since its opening in 2018. 

Student Council sponsor Tracy Russman described how the students keep the shop running. 

“Think if you took a job anywhere in the community. You would have people that are managers that do the job, and train new people in,” Russman said.

Owlspresso is run by five student managers who open the shop, collect and keep track of money and make orders. 

“They [the managers] completely run it […] it gives them a lot of good entrepreneurship skills,” Rahe said.

The coffee shop wasn’t just made to give students a caffeine boost. It is also Student Council’s biggest fundraiser.

“All of the money from the coffee shop goes back into Student Council, and then that money that we raise goes back into the school in one way or another,” Russman said.

Owlspresso is open Monday-Friday from 7 to 7:30 a.m. in the concession stand by the event entrance. 

“It’s like a cheaper version of Starbucks,” Rahe said. It’s a little bit quicker because you don’t have to go out of your way to get it, and I feel like it’s pretty good.”