A former Creekview High School student will be memorialized in the school's coffee shop where he loved to hang out.

On Monday, the school will dedicate its Lazy Bear Cafe to the memory of Nick Waters, a special needs student who died in March.

The ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. The school is located at 1550 Owens Store Road in Macedonia.

The coffee shop, which is housed in a old book and magazine storage room in the media center, had a soft opening in March and Waters was the greeter at the shop two weeks before his death, said Sherry Wallace, a special needs teacher at Creekview.

The coffee shop is open from 8 to 10 a.m. Mondays through Fridays and is run by 18 mild to moderate special needs students. The students also have two regular education peers who help with the operations.

Lazy Bear Cafe's decor is similar to furniture in large coffee shops. Three paintings by Creekview High School art students hang on the walls and soft pop music plays in the background.

The menu features hot drinks, such as cappuccinos, regular and decaffeinated coffee and tea. The shop also serves frappucinos and mixed fruit drinks.

It cost the special education department $13,000 to get the operation up and running. The cost included renovations to the room, purchasing the products and equipment and the drink machines.

Principal Dr. Bob Eddy fronted the cost and the the revenue generated from all the sales will go toward the expenses.

Once the expenses are paid off, Mrs. Wallace said the funds generated will go toward "special education projects and field trips as well as other school related projects that benefit all of our students, faculty and local community."

An annual scholarship will be established using a portion of the funds, she said.

Mrs. Wallace said the school has been trying to get the cafe up and running for the last few years. Waters transferred from Sequoyah High School, which has a coffee shop, and was an advocate for getting a shop open at Creekview.

Mrs. Wallace said Waters, who was confined to a wheelchair, enjoyed greeting customers during the school's soft opening.

"He got such a kick out of it," she said, adding he greeted customers three days a week.

Along with Sequoyah, Etowah High School, Woodstock High School and Cherokee High School all have coffee shops. River Ridge High School is planning to open its own coffee shop once its new facility on Arnold Mill Road opens in August.

Mrs. Wallace added the shop has been widly popular with students, faculty and staff at Creekview.

Since the shop is in the media center, only a few customers are allowed in at a time so media center operations won't be disturbed.

She also said some classes often send classroom orders.

"It's been great," she said. "The student body loves it."

Michelle Hall, the 17-year-old daughter of Michael and Beth Hall of Ball Ground, likes working in the store.

"It's fun," she said.

Michelle, a junior at Creekview, said she works at the shop every Wednesday and said she hopes more students come to the shop.

Dimitri Darion and Jayde Crowe, juniors at Creekview, also enjoy coming to the coffee shop.

Dimitri, the 17-year-old son of Jonah and Lisa Darion of Ball Ground, said he visits twice a week and said he was impressed with the coffee.

Jayde, the 17-year-old daughter of Jason and Sherry Crowe of Macedonia, said she also visits twice a week and said the shop was an asset to the school.

"It gives us more than vending machines," she said.