Back in 2019, a small student-run business known as the Paw Shop opened in a portion of a business classroom at Great Bend High School. Last week, GBHS business teacher Amber Lucchesi and a few of her students showed the USD 428 Board of Education how the project continues.
The Paw Shop is more than a retail store that offers Panther apparel and other items to GBHS students and to the community; it is also a learning lab where students learn business essentials and marketing skills, as well as computer graphics.
Students presented school board members with a few of the items sold at the Paw Shop. Products include GBHS tumblers and mugs, decals, socks, lanyards, key chains, buttons, cellphone card holds, license tags and custom T-Shirts.
One of the students noted that the store also gives members of the community a chance to show support for the high school “and still get some cool merch.”
Students also learn to use spreadsheets as they track inventory, create invoices or determine how much to charge for an item.
Along the way, those involved seek to promote school spirit. The Paw Shop offers pre-ordered items for special events such as the Pink Out, Neon Night or Camo Day.
Lucchesi said students can shop at the store before and after school and during the lunch period. There are plans for a new store location in the commons area, which would be handy since it could also be open at basketball games.
“We’re trying to get a website open,” she added.
CTE pathways
The Paw Shop report followed a report on Career and Technical Education (CTE) by GBHS Assistant Principal Randy Wetzel.
“Career awareness starts at the elementary level,” Wetzel said. Students begin career exploration at the middle school level and career preparation at the high school level.
“A new thing the state is pushing is work-based learning, where instead of going to school you may spend half of the day at a job and learn your skill or your craft that way,” Wetzel said.
“In the state of Kansas there are seven career fields out there, 16 career clusters and 36 pathways,” he continued. “We have all seven (fields) represented and now 13 career clusters that are represented.”
They are:
• Power, structural & technical systems
- Kevin Hoff oversees the pathway, which includes FFA, ag mechanics, CNC machine skills, plasma cutter skills, welding and an internship program.
• Manufacturing
- Jake Hofflinger and students have been involved with robotics programming, precision measurement, blueprint building, mass production of items, and redesigning a lookout for Cheyenne Bottoms.
• Construction and design.
- Heather Blundell and Travis Straub lead students to two strands of the pathway – architecture and construction. Students made 150 cutting boards in the shape of Kansas this year for Wheatland Electric.
• Engineering and applied mathematics
- Heather Blundell and Jake Hofflinger utilize the Project Lead The Way curriculum to teach precision measurement, 3D printing, use of Inventor software, reverse engineering, engineering and problem solving with robotics.
• Digital media
- Dan Heath and digital media students are responsible for a wide variety of video production throughout the high school and USD 428. Andy Negaard and students produce photos, layouts, advertising sales and purchases of yearbooks. The 2019-2020 yearbook, Rhorea, received the Kansas Scholastic Press Association’s highest honor, scoring 418 out of 420 points possible when it was judged on concepts, coverage, reporting, photography and design.
• Health science
- Ryan Zink and sports medicine students provide practical experience working with GBHS athletic teams, and internships with community organizations. More than 100 students are certified annually in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.
• Biomedical
- Andrea Stalcup and Travis McAtee prepare students for the rigors of a health-care major.
• Business finance
- Robin Linsner, Carrie Minton and Lacy Wolters teach accounting for the Paw Shop. Students learn personal finance and investing, and participate in the Stock Market Game.
• Early Childhood
- Cara Negaard provides students with Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities (KCCTO) certification and workplace experience at elementary and preschool settings.
• Restaurant and events
- Katy Hekele teaches culinary skills (basic and industrial standard), business planning for restaurant operation; and nutrition and wellness.
• Web digital communications
-Robin Linsner and Carrie Minton lead the pathway in cybersecurity, web page design, computer graphics, Microsoft Suite and Microsoft certifications.
• Teaching
- Sarah Ellegood provides a course that includes history of education, theories of learning, creating lesson plans, and classroom management skills.
• Marketing
-Amber Lucchesi and Carrie Menton lead the pathway where students can design campaigns, radio ads and billboards. They collaborated with Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes to revamp the marketing campaign and January’s sidewalk sale.
