There’s a new store in town and it’s filled with Spud pride. The student-run school store at the Moorhead High School Career Academy took shape quickly at the end of the semester, but it’s taken a lot of planning work to get here.
Built into the plans for the Career Academy, the serious work started this past year in partnership with Scheels. Teacher Trish Roningen worked with Scheels and her school store class to determine layout, purchase merchandise and brainstorm marketing strategies.
The work to get here was enormous, but exciting to watch unfold. Over the span of a week, the store really started to take shape. Roningen says, “Seeing how committed the students were to doing everything that needed to be done was amazing.” Students helped with merchandising, scanning barcodes into the system, hanging signage and more.
She wasn’t alone in this feat either. Teachers from the Career Academy helped across the entire process. Business Education Teacher Kathi Salvevold’s classes took photos of inventory and started creating grand opening posters and t-shirt designs. Jeff Schneider, industrial technology teacher, helped unload an entire semi of displays and merchandise. He also helped hang frames for store signage and showed students how to install the signs.
“All of the students have been amazed with how quickly everything came together,” Roningen says. “I have to thank Scheels a million times for getting everything done so quickly.” She remarks that students are excited about the new addition. When she is working in the store she will hear students walk past and plan out what they will buy once it opens.
There is no concrete plan on an official open date yet. Roningen plans on having a grand opening, and is excited to continue to collaborate with other classes in the space. In addition, the future growth for student learning is exciting. Using equipment in the Career Academy, they will be able to etch designs into metal cups. They also have the possibility of opening an online store. For now, they will focus on getting the store up and running.
