Bearden’s school store opened its doors to students last year, selling items such as cookies, candy, and Bearden clothing items, but this year, the school store has come back carrying more items than ever before.
“We knew it was going to be popular, but I think it’s exceeded expectations so far,” business teacher Mr. Eric Swant said.
The school store started carrying soft serve ice cream this year, which became a major hit almost immediately.
“I’m pretty sure it was expected to sell because there’s no real soft serve that you can get anywhere else in the school,” junior Rudra Patel said.
Added junior Brielle Pickett: “I worked in the school store last year, and I wanted to try the new ice cream. I would definitely say it is worth the hype.”
The new school store has not only had an impact on students because of what they are able to purchase now, but it has also helped increase school involvement and raise people’s spirits.
“I would assume that it’s increased morale a little bit just based off of the laughter and everything I hear when kids come in and get soft serve,” said Mr. Swant, who teaches the retail operations class in charge of running the store.
Along with students having the opportunity to purchase items from the school store, students in the class working the store have also been given new learning opportunities from real world experiences.
“They’re going to learn how to work in a store, manage a store, that type of thing,” Mr. Swant said. “I think because it’s in a high school, it’s a lot more hectic than a normal store, so I think that they are going to get a lot more out of it than if they were working at Papa Johns or Dillard’s or a normal store.”
Students also say they have gained new skills to help them in the workforce such as learning how to operate a cash register, deal with money, and grow their business, people, teamwork, and leadership skills.
“It teaches you leadership,” Patel said. “Also, you have to work as a team because there are so many tasks that people have to do so you have to work together to do them.”
The school store is open during lunch on Wednesdays and Fridays.