Walking into Wrigley Coffee, customers are met with color and vibrance amidst the aromatic caffeine fixings, from the shop’s earthy interior, espresso drinks all the way down to the service.
That lively energy is brought in by local high school students working their first job, who often rotate behind the café’s counter — the energy they bring daily, excitement in their eyes and an eagerness to learn new things.
Browning junior Aubrey Hunter Iverson was always interested in workforce experience. However, she noticed how difficult it is for teenagers to get workforce experience before graduation. According to the Pew Research Center, teen employment has dipped from 58% in 1978 to 35.5% in 2026.
“Being a teenager, it’s hard to get that [experience],” she said. “So [First Course] was something I was really excited for, it’s something that I thought would be beneficial.”
For the past four weeks, ten Browning High School students participated in First Course at Wrigley Coffee, a program that has made huge impacts on the students.
Powered by Forward Endeavors, Browning High School and Wrigley Coffee, First Course Workforce Development provides students with 36 hours of hands-on training inside a café, including one-on-one coaching with a variety of mentors.
Students attended sessions after school every Tuesday and Thursday, giving them hands-on instruction behind the counter and training using espresso equipment, learning point-of-sale systems and serving customers.
The students were split up into three teams: team Macha, Latché and Coffee. On Thursday afternoon, two groups played the role of customers while the other group focused on creating the drinks.
Everything culminates with a ceremony and mock café shift set for Friday evening, with their friends and family in attendance.
With the pressure of putting everything they’ve learned on display, students were calm and excited during the Signal Tribune’s visit Thursday. Laughter filled the air and the synergy was palpable.
Anaitze Trujillo, a junior at Browning, learned about First Course after her friends graduated from the program.
During that time she met the executive director of Wrigley Coffee, Chris Cano. Browning’s program facilitator and pathway coordinator, Daniel Miyake, felt Trujillo had a natural ability to make people comfortable in the shop and asked Trujillo if she wanted the internship.
Trujillo is part of student government, but never had a job before joining First Course. The program, she says, helped a lot with her confidence.
“This program is really essential for high schoolers, especially how we get looked down on because they [adults] expect us not to know much,” she said. “I think it adds to my resume and it adds to my list of skills. I can communicate, I know customer service, I know how to approach certain conflicts if there was a customer who wasn’t happy. Honestly, I just have learned to really be communicative and really approach things differently.”
Trujillo said working for a non-profit business such as Wrigley Coffee makes it feel pure and genuine, saying she wouldn’t have been this excited working in a chain company Starbucks.
She also emphasized how First Course fostered a positive environment for the students.
“When you’re able to be in an environment where you’re not scared or you’re not shy, it really helps everyone open up their shells,” she said. “It just means a lot knowing that we have adults in the room that we trust, but not [getting] lectured by.”
Trujillo was ecstatic about Friday’s mock café shift, and invited everyone she could think of — despite the fact it meant she’d have to make more drinks.
Will Geoghegan, the course instructor for First Course Workforce Development and program coordinator for Forward Endeavors, is one of the adults who helped foster the relaxed, positive environment at Wrigley Coffee.
Even after a full day of school, Geoghegan said they always came engaged, with smiles, good energy and ready to learn.
“It’s really been inspiring to me to see how eager they are to learn these skills that hopefully they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives,” he said. “They just have very unique interests and they all are ready, willing to be good team members and help each other out.”
Geoghegan said the program helps the high schoolers learn about communication, workplace norms, job search and resume tweaking from a different perspective than just family members.
He views it as a sandbox for the teenagers to get their hands dirty with real world experience. Geoghegan went as far to give them his cell phone number and email for the students to connect with him after the program ended.
Before Thursday’s practice run, Geoghegan walked through specific scenarios with the teenagers and was there to give advice about how to welcome guests as the cashier or what ingredients are available for Friday’s service.
Iverson, one of the Browning High School students in the program, saw flyers in the hallway promoting the program and like Trujillo, had heard positive things about the internship from a friend.
The experience taught her how a workplace environment is built on trusting the people around you, how to be cordial with customers and other skills she never anticipated. Iverson also learned to slow down and be patient when brewing coffee, something she learned while practicing making drinks.
Being in a relaxed yet fast-paced environment also helped her get comfortable speaking up if she needed help.
Iverson said while the program ending is bittersweet for her, she is thankful for the opportunity to be part of it.
“I think it’s really important to have this in Long Beach.” she said. “It gives opportunities to earn my course experience and decide what to do and to any parent, teenager who may see this, I just want to say it really is a good thing to be a part of, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.”
The Wrigley Coffee community showcase will take place Friday, Nov. 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and a closing ceremony from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 437 W. Willow St. Residents should RSVP online at firstcoursewfd.org/showcase if they would like to attend to support the students graduating.
Parents and students can read more information about the First Course at firstcoursewfd.org/. Companies interested in partnering can also learn more on their website.
