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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg High School students have achieved their goal of setting up an online store through which to sell Dragon-themed products.
Senior marketing and DECA — an international student marketing association — students presented their plan for a Dragon Gear store to the USD 250 Board of Education last November. The board approved the approximate $5,000 for equipment after the students drew up a business plan.
The students design and partially manufacture items with school logos, such as mouse pads, coffee cups, water bottles, key chains, and “spirit sleeves,” senior and store manager Isis Ruiz said Friday.
The operation is overseen by management and DECA students, and the products would be made by graphic design and SkillsUSA students.
The students run the business entirely. Teacher Linda Garrow’s students order items such as mugs and T-shirts and design the logos, which are printed onto the gear by technology teacher Bob Boyer’s students. Customers can order products with the original dragon mascot or a newer, simplified version the students created. Products also can be shipped to customers or picked up at the school.
The idea for the business came from similar but much larger operations the students had at competitions at schools in Kansas City, Ruiz said.
“We were like, ‘Whoa, it’s the size of our office times 10. We have to have one of these,’” Ruiz said.
The students aren’t in the business of selling cheap products to maximize profits, Ruiz said.
“We go for the best quality we can find,” she said, adding that, for now, the money they make will go back into the business to help it stay solvent until business takes off.
Linda Garrow, marketing teacher and DECA adviser, said the students worked on setting up their operation through most of last year and throughout the summer.
“There were so many people involved,” Garrow said. “There was a lot more networking and connections than we realized.”
Garrow said principal Jon Bishop has been behind the project “200 percent.”
“He’s really on board with this,” she said.
The potential for the store, Garrow said, is difficult to gauge but could be unlimited.
“We really haven’t even thought about how big it could be,” she said. “But the students have really gotten excited to come to class and work on their part of the puzzle. The motivation has been incredible.”
The students also will be able to use the store for the state level DECA competition next spring.
“If they win first or second there, they could go to nationals in Anaheim,” Garrow said. “They could even win scholarships from this.”
Garrow said she hopes the business continues to grow.
“I like to think it could be a legacy that could be built on every year,” she said. “It could be big, and it could be fun.”
Pittsburg High School students have achieved their goal of setting up an online store through which to sell Dragon-themed products.
Senior marketing and DECA — an international student marketing association — students presented their plan for a Dragon Gear store to the USD 250 Board of Education last November. The board approved the approximate $5,000 for equipment after the students drew up a business plan.
The students design and partially manufacture items with school logos, such as mouse pads, coffee cups, water bottles, key chains, and “spirit sleeves,” senior and store manager Isis Ruiz said Friday.
The operation is overseen by management and DECA students, and the products would be made by graphic design and SkillsUSA students.
The students run the business entirely. Teacher Linda Garrow’s students order items such as mugs and T-shirts and design the logos, which are printed onto the gear by technology teacher Bob Boyer’s students. Customers can order products with the original dragon mascot or a newer, simplified version the students created. Products also can be shipped to customers or picked up at the school.
The idea for the business came from similar but much larger operations the students had at competitions at schools in Kansas City, Ruiz said.
“We were like, ‘Whoa, it’s the size of our office times 10. We have to have one of these,’” Ruiz said.
The students aren’t in the business of selling cheap products to maximize profits, Ruiz said.
“We go for the best quality we can find,” she said, adding that, for now, the money they make will go back into the business to help it stay solvent until business takes off.
Linda Garrow, marketing teacher and DECA adviser, said the students worked on setting up their operation through most of last year and throughout the summer.
“There were so many people involved,” Garrow said. “There was a lot more networking and connections than we realized.”
Garrow said principal Jon Bishop has been behind the project “200 percent.”
“He’s really on board with this,” she said.
The potential for the store, Garrow said, is difficult to gauge but could be unlimited.
“We really haven’t even thought about how big it could be,” she said. “But the students have really gotten excited to come to class and work on their part of the puzzle. The motivation has been incredible.”
The students also will be able to use the store for the state level DECA competition next spring.
“If they win first or second there, they could go to nationals in Anaheim,” Garrow said. “They could even win scholarships from this.”
Garrow said she hopes the business continues to grow.
“I like to think it could be a legacy that could be built on every year,” she said. “It could be big, and it could be fun.”
