By Ian Miller
“You’re not just mascots; you’re capable adults working in the state of Kansas.”
Jenna Sutter Brown, Golden Scoop shift manager and advocate for uniquely abled people, is passionate about helping people. Jenna has been with The Golden Scoop since July of 2025. Before that, Jenna worked as a special education teacher throughout the school system, including positions in elementary, high school, and post-secondary special education programs (also called an 18-21 program).
“I came [to The Golden Scoop’s 5th birthday celebration] with my family . . . We had a great time participating in the events, and we saw a lot of our old, former students here, which was really fun, which means the community heard about our event and they really showed up,” said Jenna.
The Golden Scoop celebrated its fifth anniversary on Saturday, April 11th, and it was a massive success! The community really turned out to celebrate with us, and the shop was packed all day long! The fun spilled outside into the parking lot, which was transformed into a mini-carnival with face-painting, balloon artists, carnival games, and live music. Jenna, along with the rest of our staff, attended the event, and we all really enjoyed it!
I asked what her thoughts were on our shop being open for five years now, and she said, “I think it’s incredible, especially after a pandemic that took out a lot of businesses. I think that the city really realizes how important it is to have not only local but unique, inclusive employment that we can model for our town, but also hopefully spread that message to other places, because we do have a lot of people who come in from other places and say, ‘Oh, I’m visiting from Michigan,’ or ‘I’m visiting from Georgia,’ and we love for them to see the stuff we’re doing here and hopefully take that message back where they’re coming from.”
From there, our conversation turned to the impact The Golden Scoop has had, not just on the community at large, but also the individual Super Scoopers who work here. I asked Jenna if she thought The Golden Scoop had helped our Super Scoopers to grow and develop new skills over the last five years. She enthusiastically agreed. “I mean, confidence is number one,” she said. “I see people come in every shift and just take over; they know what they need to do [and] the expectation is clear. Yes, their job skills have grown, but I love that they’re more business-minded. A lot of them are heading out on these caterings and wholesales, and they’re seeing our reach in the community, and I think that lights a fire in them just as much as it does us . . . and it just really gives them that sense of pride in not only a job well done, but a job that is like any other job out there. It’s not a ‘special ed’ job, it’s not simplified. It is a business that is thriving, and that is thriving because of them.”
Find the Golden Scoop at these locations:
9540 Nall Avenue
Overland Park, Kansas 66207
913-284-804410460 W 103rd Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66214
913-232-9639Hours:
Monday – Closed
Tuesday-Saturday: 8am-7pm
Sunday @103rd: 9am-5pm
Sunday @ 95th: 1pm-5pm
