Fat City Cafe turns into study spot for high school students.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- There's a diner in Multnomah Village that turns into a place of learning once a week.

"There's always something to make me feel more comfortable with the fact that I'm not the only one who needs a little bit of help sometimes," said Drake Christiansen, a senior at Ida B. Wells High School.

Joe and Amy Minato are regulars at the Fat City Cafe, and during the pandemic, the two somewhat retired teachers mentioned to the cafe's owner they wanted to find a space where they could help tutor high school kids for free.

"(The owner) handed me a key and said, 'We're here from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's yours any other time. I trust you,'" Joe said.

In January 2022, the Minato's launched the Smart City Learning Cafe in this space.

"It's fun to see the students get to know each other and have a good time," Amy said.

"I usually get help in math and science. And then recently, since junior year, I've been helping people with math and science and it's fun," said Ida B. Wells senior Elsa Weber.

Elsa is one of many current or former high school students who came for the tutoring, and then ended up becoming tutors themselves.

"I started coming to get help with AP (chemistry), and then I started converting to tutoring pretty quick," said Ania Leonardo, who is now a freshman at Lewis & Clark College.

"The best part is you see a lot of kids who were pretty defeated about a subject, especially math. People tend to feel there's no way they can understand this. And I think you get a lot of kids who are really now proud of the math they're doing," added Reed College student Jesse Mitchell.

Joe says they've limited it to high school students, and most come from Ida B. Wells. He also said they would love for other businesses to consider donating space, so these types of cafes could serve kids across the Portland metro area.

"I think of all the things I've done in my life, this is the closest to all positive," he said.