Our fall 2026 cohort has graduated
Where Long Beachstudents get their start.
First Course is a 36-hour hospitality training for high school students, taught inside Wrigley Coffee, a working café. Students build the skills every job needs: communication, teamwork, workplace etiquette and money basics. Students who meet the standard earn a Hospitality Certificate.
Students build the skills every job needs: communication, teamwork, workplace etiquette and money basics. Students who meet the standard earn a Hospitality Certificate.
What is First Course?
We teach Long Beach high school students how to work in hospitality, from behind a real counter.
Ten students from Browning High School spend four weeks at Wrigley Coffee, every Tuesday and Thursday after school. They practice every skill at the espresso machine, at the register and with real guests, with one-on-one coaching along the way.
- 36 hours of hands-on training, inside a working café
- Every session dinner together and one-on-one coaching
- A certificate the Hospitality Certificate, for students who meet the standard
- 10 students in our fall 2026 cohort. 20 students planned across fall 2026 and spring 2027.
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Workplace etiquette
- Money basics
01 / 04·The Wrigley Coffee team, at the register.
The café is the classroom.
Every session happens at Wrigley Coffee, 437 W Willow St in Long Beach.
Open daily, 7 AM to 4 PM
Now playing · Wrigley Coffee
Wrigley Coffee, in their own words
Why we exist
Our objective
“We provide job training in a supportive work environment where young people build the skills and confidence to succeed in meaningful careers.”
The Wrigley Coffee mission. First Course carries it to high school students.
The problem
Youth living in underserved areas of Long Beach need job skills to successfully enter the workforce.
Our solution
- Align with a nonprofit that exists to support underserved communities with workforce development in Long Beach.
- This nonprofit is committed to finding other outside sources to fund this type of work, because it is not sustainable without community partners.
Forward EndeavorsSupporting our communities through healing and opportunity.- Wrigley CoffeeBut first, community.
- First CourseWhere Long Beach students get their start.
Browning High SchoolOur school partner
Long Beach Unified School DistrictOur district partner
Who stands behind First Course
Who stands behind us
How we all fit together.
Forward Endeavors is a Long Beach nonprofit. It does business as First Course, Wrigley Coffee and Common Ground Grief. First Course is taught inside Wrigley Coffee.
The nonprofit behind it all
Forward Endeavors
A Long Beach nonprofit. It does business as Wrigley Coffee, First Course and Common Ground Grief.
The café, and our classroom
Wrigley Coffee
A community coffee shop and social enterprise. Every First Course session is taught here.
Taught inside Wrigley Coffee
First Course Workforce Development
A four-week hospitality program for high school students, taught inside Wrigley Coffee.
Part of the family, for grief support
Common Ground Grief
Peer support groups, family programming and grief camps in Long Beach.
Our classroom
Wrigley Coffee
Every session is taught inside this Long Beach café.
Our parent nonprofit
Forward Endeavors
The 501(c)(3) that runs Wrigley Coffee and First Course.
Our school partner
Browning High School
Every First Course student so far has come from Browning.
Our district partner
Long Beach Unified School District
Browning is a Long Beach Unified school.
Community partnership
Educational success
Financial literacy
A grant from Farmers & Merchants Bank supports financial literacy.
Basic needs
Meals
Community partners donate the meals students share at each session.
Youth mental health
Mentoring
MSW students from Cal State Long Beach give our students one-on-one mentoring.
What brings you here?
Our next cohort starts in spring 2027. Here’s how to be part of it.
EmployersMeet your next hireHost an intern, hire a grad, or come watch students work before you decide.
Donors & sponsorsFuel a first jobYour gift pays for dinner at every session, coaching and the Showcase.
Neighbors & the citySee what the work has doneEvery number, with the years it covers, and how we measure each cohort.
- Sponsor a student$1,250Become a sponsor
- Sponsor a 10-student cohort$12,500Become a sponsor
- Donate a mealEach night of the program, students share a meal. Know a restaurant willing to donate one?Email us
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A one-minute form for sponsors, employers and mentors.
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