By Riley Pult
You may have seen it either this year or last in the quad. The CTE Business class on our very own campus has set up its own shop where it sells useful and exciting items to students. Their items range from croc charms, 3D puzzles, chapstick, hand sanitizer, ski masks, and more. Paris Wibben, a part of the Creative Team in class claims her favorite item they sell is the “croc charms”.
The class is run by Mr. Zitrin. He describes that last year the shop wasn’t set up until Mother’s day last year, where they sold cards. This year the shop started running “roughly at the end of January.” Right now the Business class is working on “firming up the process” of setting up and closing the Paw Shop. Co-CEO, Hailey Fox, says the “setting up process takes about 5 minutes”, while closing down takes “10-15 minutes”.
Fox’s role in the class, with her counterpart Conan Geary, as CEO’s is to make sure the shop runs smoothly and oversee other projects. Fox says “right now I’m looking for more ideas to expand the Paw Shop”. That includes working with other classes such as Mr. Kaiser’s class, which does 3D printing for the shop. The class hopes to “work with Mr. O’Rielly, Mrs. Sailenon, and Mrs. Anouk’s” classes in the future. What projects they may be doing with them is still up in the air, but they are “exploring custom made holiday cards with the art classes” (Zitrin).
When talking about collaborating with other classes, Zitrin had this to say: “Business is a vehicle for creating connections and more widely showcasing good work that was already being done” Fox discusses how her position and specifically the Paw Shop has taught her business. “Business has a lot that goes on behind the scenes that may not be seen in the final product”. The work that the class has put in is undeniable.
Student Kabir Sihota, Director Of Events and Promotions describes that the class has a lot of student responsibilities. “It takes a lot of executive function for the class to run smoothly.” Sihota’s role in the class is to “oversee anytype of social media post and anytype of promotional items necessary for the Paw Shop.”
The Paw Shop has truly motivated students to continue their education in Business. Wibben is headed to ASU to pursue business as a career. “This class has helped me get an idea of the things I will be learning.” Student Dante Perona, also a part of the Creative Team, claims CTE Business “shows me how businesses are run and the variety of pieces each worker collaborates upon to successfully run one.”
The class hopes to expand its reach to the community of Benicia. “Finding traction within our local business community is where we hope to take that collaboration and extend it beyond the four walls of the school” (Zitrin). According to Zitrin, local businesses are interested in working with students who understand social media marketing.
The Paw Shop is always expanding, so be sure to check it out Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch in the quad. As of right now the only social media of the Paw Shop is @bhspawshop on Instagram.
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