Claim Your "Best Cup of Coffee"

Walking through New York City, I noticed something: nearly every coffee shop had a sign in the window declaring it served "The Best Cup of Coffee." A few blocks later, pizza shops were making the same claim about their slices.

I admired the shameless confidence, and it got me thinking about schools.

Educators, including auxiliary and summer leaders, tend to be humble by nature. We hesitate to make bold claims about our work. But a shift in language can change how people perceive the value of what we do.

What if we were willing to put a sign in the window?

What would your program claim to be the best at?

The Quiet Power of Auxiliary

Auxiliary programs often operate in the background of a school's ecosystem. But step back and look at the bigger picture: auxiliary touches almost every strategic priority a school has.

Auxiliary programs can:

• Expand the admissions funnel by introducing new families to the school
• Generate non-tuition revenue that strengthens long-term sustainability
• Build stronger community relationships
• Support and extend the school's mission
• Provide meaningful student experiences beyond the school day
• Help recruit, support, and retain faculty
• Activate campus facilities that would otherwise remain unused

Auxiliary functions as a Swiss Army knife for the institution—one that solves problems, opens doors, and connects parts of the school that rarely talk to each other.

Yet despite this impact, auxiliary programs are often described modestly or narrowly: summer camp, afterschool care, rentals. Those labels don't tell the whole story.

What Is Your "Best Cup of Coffee"?

Imagine if auxiliary leaders adopted the same confidence as those New York coffee shops. Instead of describing programs as operational services, what if we made bolder, clearer claims?

For example:

• The best gateway into our school community is our summer program.
• Our afterschool enrichment program is where the most innovative learning on campus happens.
• Want to know where students discover new passions? It's not always in the classroom.
• The auxiliary department is the institution's innovation engine, where we turn campus resources into opportunity.

These aren't exaggerations when auxiliary programs are functioning well. They simply name the strategic role these programs already play.

A Small Shift in Language

World's best drunken noodles!

When auxiliary leaders speak about their work with confidence and clarity, others begin to see the value that was always there.

You don't need to be boastful, but you do need to be clear. No one's fact-checking you so make your claim: what’s the "best cup of coffee" your program serves?

Chances are, you already have something extraordinary brewing.

- by David Sullivan