Union High School students are lending their classroom skills to this weekend's Union's Got Talent fundraiser, with one student-run enterprise baking cookies for the show and another printing the event's programs. The talent show is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at the DMK Black Box Theater inside the Union Arts Center, and will feature performers from across New Jersey.
According to a report from TAPinto Union, Farmer's Café, a work-based learning enterprise founded by Union High School teacher Lauren Kohn, will prepare and package cookies for the event. The café, which serves coffee, refreshers, frappes, ice cream and baked goods to school staff and students, gives students hands-on experience running a café while building practical job skills, confidence and independence, per the same report. Students will make the cookie dough, bake the cookies and package them, practicing recipe-following, ingredient measuring, food safety and teamwork along the way, the outlet notes.
A Café and a Copy Shop Team Up
Farmer's Café students are supported by Corey Baker and Keyla Puerto, and both Baker and Kohn plan to attend the event alongside a student to sell the treats, per the report. Meanwhile, Farmer's Copy Th@t, a student-operated enterprise coordinated by teacher Dana Meixner, printed the show's programs. That enterprise has served the UHS community for more than four years, providing printing, copying and clerical services to school teachers and administrative staff, the article states.
Students working with Farmer's Copy Th@t gain experience operating commercial copiers, preparing print jobs, organizing materials, maintaining equipment and supplies, running quality checks and delivering orders throughout the school, according to the same account. The program plans to expand its services within the school district and to local community groups, the outlet reports. Printing of this year's event programs was supported by the Rotary Club of Union, per the article.
Why the Show Exists
Union's Got Talent serves as a fundraiser for both the Union High School Performing Arts Company and the Douglas Michael Krueger Scholarship Fund, according to Union's Got Talent. Organizers describe the pairing as the result of the two nonprofits coming together to produce the event as a mutual fundraiser for both groups. The scholarship fund, which helps support the show, was established in 2004 following Doug Krueger's death, created by his family as a memorial to his memory and his passion for the cultural arts, with the goal of helping others pursue their dreams through scholarships and grants.
Krueger was a Union High School graduate who was active in the performing arts, earned a degree in arts administration from Wagner College, and worked as an assistant producer for Viacom/MTV, per the TAPinto report. Marie Canarelli, founder of the Douglas Michael Krueger Scholarship Fund, said she is pleased that school programs are part of this year's show. Canarelli said the event brings the community together to support young people and give them opportunities to pursue their dreams, according to the same article.
Event Details and Ticket Information
Union's Got Talent features local talent, according to UHSPAC, and has grown since 2015 into what organizers describe as a major community event, with the Township of Union serving as its major sponsor. The organization's page notes that attendance reached 800 people in 2017, which it described as its highest turnout at that time. The fund says it has awarded more than $36,000 in scholarship money to UHS graduating seniors who excelled in the arts, has given over $10,000 in grants and aid to individuals or groups involved in cultural arts projects beyond the community, and awards a yearly $1,000 Rising Star Scholarship in Doug's name at the Papermill Playhouse.
Tickets for Saturday's show can be purchased at unionsgottalent.org, per the TAPinto report. For students at Farmer's Café and Farmer's Copy Th@t, the event offers a chance to see their work — whether it's a tray of fresh-baked cookies or a stack of printed programs — put directly to use in front of a crowd supporting their school's arts programs.
