feature ENTERPRISES “What really inspired us was that instead of just talking about supply and demand, we would get to see it first hand,” said instructor Dre Helms. “We would be learning to run a business in ways that some teachers have never thought possible,” she added. In the business academy, students are learning real-world experience that will come in handy later in life. “When they start looking for after-school jobs, or just jobs in general, they’ll be able to say that they ran a coffee shop in high school,” said Helms. Students bake cookies and make the coffee drinks every week-day morning. All 10th graders, each of the six managers is over a particular aspect of the business, including inventory, finance, operations, marketing, human resources, and overall business. Each manager has a morning to supervise during the week, and other students are assigned a particular day of the week to work. Typically, the work team divides up; one student works the cash register, one takes orders, and the other three or four make the mochas, frappés, and smoothies.
THS Wave Zone is open before school and during lunch, and the target market is the high school students and teachers who are on campus each day. Teachers at other Tupelo schools ask about their products, according to CTE Director Evet Topp. “We even have parents come by during our hours of operation to purchase items for their children,” Topp said. Because the store is treated like a laboratory, they do not advertise much to the outside public. “Our profit is used strictly to restock our inventory,” said Topp. Having a school store has given students hands-on retail experience. Topp noted that after working in the store, students have a greater appreciation for the hard work needed to set up and operate a retail outlet. Assistance from local businesses can be helpful to SBEs, said Topp, who added that T-shirts, mannequins, and other items were donated to their store. “If other schools are interested in opening a school-based enterprise, I would definitely suggest that they get help from local businesses, especially when getting started,” said Topp. Mocha Loca Talon Marketing+Design Academy Florence High School The Mocha Loca Coffee Shop opened in October 2012 at the Florence High School (FHS) Talon Marketing+Design Academy as a way to give students hands-on business experience that complements the material they learn in the classroom. 16
CONNECTIONS Fall 2013
Mocha Loca opens before school, so students, faculty, and staff visit the shop for their morning drinks and snacks. “We regularly have bus drivers, parents, and even community leaders stop by to have a cup of coffee,” said Helms. “Almost everybody that’s able to come visits us at Mocha Loca. Our superintendent Dr. Lynn Weathersby has even stopped by to surprise us a couple of times.” According to Helms, working in Mocha Loca has made students more responsible and more aware of what it will be like when they get a “real-world” job. The coffee shop has been a success so far. Helms noted that they broke even in their first month of operation and have been featured on local news outlets. “What we felt was our main success is that, by taking this class, students will leave high school knowing how to take care of themselves. When they graduate, they will be Adobe Certified and know what it takes to own and operate a business,” Helms explained. To advertise Mocha Loca, students distribute flyers, hang posters, promote on social media, and make announcements at pep rallies and other assemblies. The profits from Mocha Loca are split between the business academy, the DECA club, and the school. Helms said the academy plans to use its proceeds from the coffee shop to buy equipment and materials for a future SBE project; the DECA Club uses proceeds to fund business-related competitions in which the students participate; and the school will use proceeds to fund special projects that will enhance instruction and the learning environment for the students. As for giving advice to others considering a school-based enterprise, Helms said, “Just remember to have fun, but at the same time take it seriously, and always keep trying to be better and better.”