By Cate Pitterle (’20)
Eight teams. Eight drink varieties. A whole lot of customers. That’s how this year’s Drink Cart Challenge started: teams comprised of students from every grade vying to win this recently created, but already treasured, tradition.
Boba, smoothie bowls, coffee, floats, and more flooded campus before school, during break, and at lunch, and the lines sometimes extended to twenty students or more. As the first exchange students filled campus and the days grew ever warmer, the quad brimmed with students sipping drinks and enjoying the sunlight.
More than just a fundraiser, the Challenge provides participants a change to flex their entrepreneurial skills and for customers to satisfy their sweet tooth. Hi Acai, a smoothie bowl stand started by Lia Lathan (’20), Ava Lathan (’20), and Victoria Du (’20), sold out every day they were open. Papa’s Bobaria, a bubble tea stand staffed by Verve– the team of Sydney Nguyen (’20), Jessica Zhong (’20), Will Aarons (’20), and Om Naphade (’20)– filled over 60 orders a day. And Whatever Floats Your Boat, the ice cream float stand managed by Christina Polge (’22), Sophia Khoudary (’22), Jordan Miller (’22), Rin Mauney (’22), and Grace Jaeger-Sandruck (’22), drew on marketing strategies by advertising a drawing for a free float.
Teams also drew on their English skills, using rhetoric to bring in customers. Papa’s Bobaria created the motto “Here’s the tea” for this year’s stand, and captain Sarah Hallman’s (’21) coffee and donuts stand offered students a reprieve from the homework haze, asking, “Need a boost before a long day of classes? A cool drink on a warm spring day? We can help you with that!”
Caffeine also seemed to be a trend this year; Little Turkey, from the team of Idil Baran (’20), Ceren Iz (’19), Eran Akyil (’21), and Sedef Iz (’22), advertised, “Come try a shot of traditional Turkish Coffee with 2x the amount of caffeine than regular coffee. Turkish Coffee will give you the boost you need!” Smoothie bowls were also popular, with Hi Acai and the sophomore-staffed stand of Nisma Said, Armita Jamshidi, and Emily Zhen competing for customers. At the end of the day, both teams reached the Final Four. “Getting smoothie bowls was the best,” said Erin Singleton (’20). “It was a nice change from normal lunch food, and I loved supporting my friends.”
This year’s Challenge also offered something new; after prelimary rounds, the top four teams moved onto a bracketed round in honor of March Madness. The Final Four were originally scheduled to sell at Friday Night Lights, but after FNL’s cancellation, the teams competed on Thursday, April 11. Student spectators were allowed to write brackets to predict the winner; the winner of the bracket contest was Jaida Jett (’20).
Ultimately, Hi Acai, Papa’s Bobaria, Said’s smoothie stand, and Polge’s float stand made it to the April 11 finals. There could only be one winner, though, and a close competition put Papa’s Bobaria on top.
It goes without saying that the Drink Cart Challenge has impacted Cary Academy — and not just by inspiring the permanent drink stand set to debut next year. It’s allowed students to be creative, to test their marketing and business abilities, and to bring the community closer together in the way that only sugar can.
And if it sinks your heart to realize that the Challenge is drained and done this year, it might float your boat to realize that it will be back, in all its delicious glory, in 2020.