Sweatshirts, beanies, and lanyards are just some examples of the spirit wear sold at the Independence school store, Tiger Threads. Selling them also benefits the student staff that works there.
Tiger Threads, which is located in the main hallway across from the auditorium, is one of the main sources of Independence merchandise. The goods range from pajama pants to phone wallets, all of which are branded with different types of Independence logos.
Rather than being created by an outside company, the Business and Marketing students come up with all of the designs for the products themselves. “In class, we are looking at things to buy and ways to design,” said Mr. Mark Murray, the Computer and Technical Education (CTE) department chair. “They can see what they are putting work into.”
Along with designing the merchandise, Business and Marketing students work at the school store in the mornings. Murray and another CTE teacher, Mrs. Aimee Heavener, supervise the students while they are working. They learn fundamental career skills that will benefit them later on. “For some of them, it’s their first experience with a cash register,” Heavener said. “They can then go to a job interview and say they have register experience and customer service experience.”
The students themselves believe they benefit too. “I learn a lot of work-force tasks, and it benefits us as overall people,” said junior Sarah Chevraux. “It’s also such a friendly and open place where we can get people’s input and learn from it.”
Many of the students involved are also in DECA and play a significant role in how the store works. Junior Elyca Azad, the DECA President, stated “DECA basically runs the school store. We design, we sell, we do almost everything.” There is also a group of students whose DECA competition is based on the school store and have to write a report on the school store. Chevraux is one of these students, having to write the School Based Enterprise (SB) paper that will get Tiger Threads certified through DECA.
The amount of students wearing the clothing is also very much appreciated by the teachers and students. Heavener said, “It’s great to see people walking down the hall and being able to say ‘That came from the school store.’”
Tiger Threads student staff and CTE teacher Mark Murray work in the Tiger Threads shop. All working students are in Business and Marketing. “This gives [the students] a sense of ownership,” said Murray.