A student-run business at Caldera High School is being recognized with a business excellence award by the Bend Chamber of Commerce.
The business is called the Pack Shack. It sells school swag, drinks and snacks.
The Pack Shack is run by students. It has been in operation for over a year. It turns a profit, provides students job skills and management opportunities.
“I haven’t worked before so I think this is going to help me when I do start working out in the ‘real world,’” said Marlen Dominguez Gonzalez, Caldera Pack Shack operations officer.
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About 25 students work in the store taking and fulfilling customer orders for snacks, drinks and school merchandise.
On this day cookies, popcorn and soft drinks are the big sellers.
“It can be pretty fast paced but we’ve managed to slow it down. We recently instituted a number system which kind of steadies customer flow,” said Ayden Colley, president of Caldera High School’s DECA club.
“The kids had to come up with designs. They had to figure it out. I just support them. I’m their facilitator,” said Bekki Tucker, Business Career Technical Education teacher. “I let them practice business and figure it out, make mistakes and learn from them. They’ve done an awesome job.”
Speaking of mistakes and learning experiences…
“One of the Slushie machines didn’t get screwed on correctly and then it was all over the floor,” said Claire Harris, DECA Club hospitality manager. “We all got pulled out of our class and had to spend the period cleaning the floors.”
In its first year of operation, the Pack Shack had $36,000 in sales. After expenses and business club travel costs to competitions, it net a 9% profit.
The Caldera Business Club, or DECA chapte,r is trying to raise $20,000 to send students to a national competition in Orlando, Florida.
