28 | APRIL 25 • 2024 
J
N

M

any teens will get their first job 
in high school, but at Hillel Day 
School’s new Charfoos Cafe, 
they can learn real-life business skills as 
early as sixth through eighth grades.
As part of Hillel Day School’s recent 
renovation of the historic Little Red 
Schoolhouse, which was constructed in 
the mid-1800s, the Charfoos Cafe is set 
to open its doors for operation during the 
school’s first soccer game of the season this 
spring.
In the meantime, it’s already 
up-and-running for five students enrolled 
in the inaugural Charfoos Cafe Elective, a 
business and entrepreneurship class taught 
by Jim Berger.
Berger, a retired automotive executive 
from Chrysler and past president of Hillel’s 
Board of Trustees, is leading the initiative 
to teach Hillel Day School students a vari-
ety of hard and soft skills necessary in the 
business world.
The “cafe” and its concession window 
will allow students to learn and practice 
the maintenance and daily operation of the 
business, including purchasing, pricing, 
promotion, cashiering, sales, inventory 
control, customer service and management.

TEACHING LIFELONG SKILLS
Dedicated in memory of Metro Detroit 
Jewish community leader Ron Charfoos 
by his daughter Amye and son-in-law Lou 
Goldhaber, the Charfoos Cafe will place an 
emphasis on small business management, 
entrepreneurship and philanthropy — all 
building blocks of Charfoos’ decades of 
work within the local Jewish community.
Now, the entrepreneurial spirit lives on 
at the Charfoos Cafe, teaching those same 
values to students enrolled in the new elec-
tive.
“They’re using their creativity and inno-
vation,
” says Hillel Day School director of 

advancement Amy Schlussel, who explains 
that students enrolled in the elective are 
learning how to sell items such as snacks 
and drinks. “They’re learning budgeting 
and math skills, and how to make a profit.
”
Schlussel says students and staff alike are 
thrilled to welcome the Charfoos Cafe into 
Hillel Day School’s offerings.
“I predict it’s going to be very popular, 
and people are going to love it during 
games,
” Schlussel says. “Once kids see it up 
and running, they’ll want to participate.
”

KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE
The Charfoos Cafe is the latest addition 
to Hillel’s Little Red Schoolhouse, the only 
existing one-room schoolhouse in the area 
used continuously for education.
For decades, the schoolhouse offered 
education for grades one through eight, but 
following a consolidation of school districts 
in Farmington in 1944, the building was 
used for kindergarten classes, eventually 
housing Hillel Day School’s own kinder-
garten.
Then, 10 years ago, the building flooded 

and ceased operation. Yet with so much 
history and promise behind it, the Jewish 
community wasn’t ready to see the Little 
Red Schoolhouse gone for good.
A donation from Paula and Lou Glazier 
gave the schoolhouse a second chance at 
life. Last year, Hillel Day School began an 
extensive renovation of the building. Sachse 
Construction managed the buildout, while 
the interior was designed by Brittany 
Walker.
“We’ve made it a flexible, usable, mul-
tipurpose space, and it’s beautiful now,
” 
Schlussel says. “We have classes and meet-
ings in there, so it’s really bustling. It’s a 
very beloved space, and the memories that 
our students have who had class there have 
huge sentimental value.
”
Now, the Little Red Schoolhouse is hand-
icap-accessible, and its former kitchen area 
has been transformed into the new, mod-
ern Charfoos Cafe. However, the Little Red 
Schoolhouse retains its former glory, and 
its history hasn’t been lost to time.
“There’s still little touches,
” Schlussel 
says, “that keep it retro and nostalgic.
” 

The student-run cafe will teach real-life business skills 
to sixth- through eighth-graders.

Hillel Day School Welcomes 
the New Charfoos Cafe

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Lou Goldhaber, Aiden Burnstein, Zoey Panter, Zoe Fish, Addie Fleischman, Luca Turner and 
Amye Goldhaber.

