FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- Student and staff at Gilles-Sweet Elementary School now have a tasty reason to look forward to Fridays at the W. 220th Street building.

Special Needs Teacher Kerry Sheldon said her five students are the popular kids at school with their successful Smoothies on the Go business, which every Friday serves flavorsome treats.

"I wanted to do some type of student-run business," Sheldon said. "At first I thought about doing like a coffee cart, but we don't want the kids to get burned serving hot items, so we went with something that was more safe for them."

Every Thursday teachers throughout the school take student orders for smoothies, which include six different flavors -- very berry, blueberry, strawberry, strawberry-banana, chocolate mocha and a flavor of the month. Then on Friday morning, each of Sheldon's students has their own job.

"They have to follow a recipe, so that works on their sequencing of steps," Sheldon said. "They have to read the recipe, which is helping them with their comprehension skills. They use the measuring cups, which helps learning about fractions.

"I have a parent come in on Friday who pulls one student each week working with the money. The biggest thing is the students with their communication skills are getting to talk with people directly. A lot of them are shy and don't want to speak loudly, so this really gets them into the classrooms and having more confidence."

Smoothies on the Go started out eight weeks ago and averages roughly 40 drinks a week. The operation even includes a smoothie member card where students can buy six smoothies for $10.

"Normally it's $2 a smoothie, so with the card it's like they get one free," Sheldon said. "The kids have to punch the cards."

Fifth grader Brianna Wick said she enjoys delivering the smoothies to teachers she normally wouldn't see during the day.

"I love tasting them and cutting the bananas," said fourth grade student Cohen Cepulo.

Fifth grade student Randah Mustafa added, "I like the smoothie business because we have fun doing it. We work hard and get a smoothie for our work."

Gilles-Sweet Elementary School Principal Barbara J. Brady said Smoothies on the Go has been an excellent way for Sheldon's students to use and apply the social skills they are working on at school in a real-life scenario within a safe comfortable environment.

"They're so enthusiastic about delivering their smoothies every Friday," Brady said. "However, I think our staff is even more excited to interact and visit with them during their delivery time."

At the end of the year, Sheldon said any profit will go toward a student field trip to a local smoothie business, as well as to purchase donations to be given to a local food bank.

While this year's Smoothies on the Go business runs until May, Sheldon said the plan is to bring it back next school year.

"It's so funny, the students say it's hard work, but they love it," Sheldon said. "It's fun to see the excitement in them."