Nora Callahan has nothing but praise for the students who make up the  Academy of Finance  at Pine Bush High School. Not only are they business savvy, they’re incredibly creative!

 

 

 

The students came up with the idea to start the PBHS Spirit Store. There used to be a school store that sold pencils and pens, candy and school-related trinkets. The students decided to make it something they thought would be more useful to everyone.

 

Now they create Pine Bush t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and sweatpants. They even do specialty jobs for different clubs and organizations. The senior class hired them to create the t-shirt that was given to every senior at the class picnic. You can find them selling their wares at the musicals and talent shows. They’re definitely working it!

 

Their goals at the start of this experiment was to price things fairly, work with sales tax and maintain inventory, which Ms. Callahan said is pretty tough! Their mission was to run a business and cultivate school spirit. This group of entrepreneurs did it!

“It has done better than I thought it would,” said Ms. Callahan. “I knew kids from the Finance Academy would buy things and their friends would too. But it’s been much more than expected.”

So many students and staff members can be seen in the hallways wearing gear from the Spirit Store. The store started mainly with basic gray and blue items, all designed by the students. But the academy members thought they would try some new things. Good decision! Especially popular are the limited edition items such as the pastel shirts and pants with white lettering. They are hot items and truly were in limited quantities.

 

Ms. Callahan and the Finance Academy students were awarded the Stahl Family Scholarship earlier this year to support their entrepreneurial spirit. They received two heat presses, heat printing accessories and training with Stahl experts after impressing the company with their spirit store.

 

Taylor Moshinski, a senior, is president of the Finance Academy. She said there are a lot of freshmen and sophomores interested in the academy, which bodes well for Ms. Callahan, the department chairperson for business. What the students do in the spirit store directly lines up with what they’re learning in their business classes.

As a junior, Taylor said she took business classes and really liked them. “Many of the classes are for life skills, like how to do taxes,” said Taylor.

“She is an ambassador for the business department, always telling kids how good the business classes are,” said Ms. Callahan.

 

Back to the Spirit Store. On this day they were making shirts for the senior picnic. They were a well-oiled machine, cranking the shirts out.

In addition to creating new designs and spirit wear, the group also learned to use a point of sale system, programming it themselves, use spreadsheets and correctly price items that are on clearance. That last item can be tricky because they still want to make some money even on clearance items. And they do!

 

“Everything we learn here ties in with our business classes,” said Ms. Callahan. “This real-life experience ties in with our classwork.”

The students also take orders from kids who may not see what they want in the store itself. If a size isn’t available, no problem. They check the inventory and make one right there. If you are in the market for some Pine Bush spirit wear, the Spirit Store takes Venmo, Apple Pay, debit and credit cards

 

The students have an Instagram page, showcasing the items they offer and any special deals. Not to mention so many ideas and possibilities for next year.

“We have a lot of fun,” said Jasmine, one of the Finance Academy students, “but we get stuff done.”