Within the walls of Englewood High School, amidst the daily hustle and bustle, one high school junior, Ethan Leflar, has brewed up more than just a passion for tea.
Leflar, 17, has transformed his admiration for the aromatic beverage into a flourishing business venture, operating E.T.’s Shop of Tea and Pastries inside his school.
It’s here that Leflar works hard to connect with his customers all the while serving them the perfect blend and a tasty treat.
Leflar said he offers a myriad of teas such as green tea, white tea and more with the purpose of helping his fellow students wake up or relax as different teas provide different benefits.
“My favorite tea would be the black chai because it’s vanilla and spicy and it ignites their brains,” Leflar said.
Leflar has always loved tea and for him the “tasty aroma” and how it keeps him warm are the best aspects of the beverage.
Inspired by his teachers, Christen Gomez and Lila Downing, Leflar said he started his company because he wanted to provide tea and sweets to his classmates and teachers.
Through the School to Work Alliance Program, a state program that helps students with disabilities transition into the workforce, Gomez said the idea for the tea shop was created.
Gomez, an Affected Needs teacher, said she and Downing, an Affected Needs paraprofessional educator, help provide additional emotional or behavioral support to students including Leflar, who lives with autism, Tourettte’s and atypical psychosis.
She explained Leflar joined their class last year and his love for tea actually came out of a joy for coffee.
Initially, Gomez said the plan was to have Leflar work for a local coffee shop in Englewood, but once he decided he was more passionate about tea they created E.T.’s.
“So he just got really into tea and that it helps his body and helps him feel calm and he would talk to us all the time about the different teas’ benefits on his body,” Gomez said. “We thought, why not make a tea shop?”
Since E.T.’s is run out of the concessions at the school, Leflar is a district employee.
“Ethan works for Englewood School District as a paid intern and so all of the time he spends baking things for the tea shop, counting his money, looking through and seeing what he needs and restocking is hours that he gets paid for the tea shop,” Gomez said.
She explained any money actually made from the shop goes toward supplies.
“That was the best way that we felt he could still personally gain and be able to get a bank account and learn how to save money and have something of his own and have that outside motivation for working,” Gomez said.
Downing said the overall purpose of this shop is to help Leflar with transitioning to the next phase of his life. She said they are always figuring out ways to improve upon the tea shop to help Leflar learn and pursue it after he graduates next year.
“It’s all been along that path of transition and how does this serve him once he exits us,” Downing said.
In addition to operating his tea shop through the concessions, Leflar and his classmates also run the operation during sporting events.
“He loves being around people,” Gomez said. “He trains other kids now. He shows everybody how to do it. It’s amazing seeing him out there and seeing our other students out there.”
It’s through the concessions and his tea shop that Leflar is in his element as he connects with people, feeling confident and happy.
“When you put him in the shop he’s so animated,” Downing said. “He’ll put music on and dance and normally he asks people what they like.”
She said Leflar is able to pick the perfect tea to help customers feel better.
Leflar’s mother Misty Leflar said her son is “succeeding through his challenges.”
Since opening his shop, Leflar said people have responded to it with a “warm welcome.”
Going forward, Leflar hopes to expand his operations.
“I would like to grow my own tea leaves so I can make my own tea blends and sell them to the people of Englewood High School,” Leflar said. “I have hydroponics to help grow my tea leaves so that way I can make tea plants.”
He said after he grows his plants, the next step in the process requires him to dry out the leaves and begin blending them.
“Like chamomile, green, white, jasmine and any other types of herbal teas that are available for me to blend,” Leflar said.
Gomez said the next steps for Leflar also include taking him to a professional tea shop so he can learn more about his passion, as well as assisting him in adapting E.T. ‘s function within the school’s schedule.
Both Gomez and Downing hope for the best for Leflar and they’re proud of him for his accomplishments.
“He’s incredible,” Gomez said. “We hope that he finds something that he loves to do that he’s proud of. That he gets to be himself and be honored and respected.”
Leflar thanked his family, friends and supporters for helping him set up the tea shop.