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Kevi’s Treats Offers Syracuse City High Schoolers Jobs Local Bakery Offers Jobs to High Schoolers

Kevi's Treats owner employed high school students that needed experience.

By Maya Pow

Reporter: Imagine opening a new business during a pandemic and then only hiring high schoolers. Well, Kevi’s Treats on South Salina Street did just that. Shankevia Dean opened Kevi’s Treats this summer after her lemon cookies, also known as heaven drops, went viral in the community. Dean says she’s grateful that she can provide Syracuse city teenagers with a place to work.

Shankevia Dean: I contracted with CNY Works, they offer summer employment for youth, ages 14 all the way up to 18 I believe and then they have jobs for kids that are 18 and higher. But I had the luxury of getting six kids placed here on my site and was able to work here with me.

Reporter: Not only does Dean provide students with jobs, but she also offers cooking lessons. Letisha Harper is a foster mom of eight and several of her children learn at Kevi’s Treats. Harper says both she and her wife really appreciate that Dean focuses on teaching real-world skills like cleaning, cooking, and customer service.

Letisha Harper: Just to come home and have our older kids say “listen, try this treat here because I learned this from Shankevia or Ms. Kevi’s treats” is a big blessing to us. So we do appreciate her in the community for the job that she is doing with our children just as well.

Reporter: Kevi’s Treats is open Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30-9:30 pm and sometimes they’re open from 7-noon on Saturdays. You can find more information on kevistreats.com. You know, I’m not really a dessert person, but this is the best cookie… I’ve ever had. Maya Pow, N-C-C News.

By Maya Pow SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Kevi’s Treats just reopened on September 17th after the owner Shankevia Dean closed it for a couple of weeks. All of the employees are Syracuse City high schoolers and Dean wanted to ensure they would get time off to settle back into school.

Dean received her master’s degree in social work at Syracuse University but struggled to find a job. So she began selling and delivering her lemon cookies, also known as “heaven drops”, out of her trunk. She quickly upgraded to her very own store, Kevi’s Treats, on July 1, 2021. Despite struggling to start up as a young black woman, her treats have sold out every week since it’s opened.

“I think the biggest thing for me was finding a storefront and having the ability to purchase all the unique things needed to run a bakery,” said Dean.

Kevi’s Treats is open 5:30-9:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and occasionally serves breakfast from 7 am-noon on Saturdays. Dean also hosts a cooking class once in a while, there’s more information on the website. Letisha Harper, one of Dean’s close friends and a foster mom to eight, says she and her wife both appreciate what Dean does for their children.

“Just to come home and have our older kids say “listen, try this treat here because I learned this from Shankevia or Ms. Kevi’s treats” is a big blessing to us,” said Harper.

Outside of running a bakery, Dean is also a social worker at OCM Boces, a school for students of all ages with disabilities. She hopes to continue to merge her special ed students with her general ed students and help them socialize with each other.

 

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