As a part of their daily routine, many students make a trip to the school store to grab some snacks and drinks. The school store is open before school, periods one, two, eight and after school. 

Store adviser Kimberly Shope does not remember an exact date of the store opening, but knows it has been around for a long time. 

“I’m going to guess in the early 80s. I’ve been here 35 years, and it’s been here the whole time so that is what I’m thinking,” Shope said.

According to Shope, though it varies, the store on average makes around $100 per day,

“The store pays for itself. We do what we call purchase orders through the district to various vendors. We look at what they charge us and create a cost,” Shope said. “Our cost that you see when purchasing an item includes us making a profit. They are all different amounts, and we don’t want to make a loss. We aren’t making lots of money off of each profit; we want the students to be able to afford it, but at the same time we don’t want to take a loss, so it varies every year.”

The store has to work within the federal government guidelines for healthy snacks for schools. 

“We look at sugar content, sodium content, calories, fat and those types of things. Most of the vendors that we deal with have that information and have healthy snacks because they sell those items to other places that have to do that,” Shope said. 

Many students often request what Shope refers to as “sweets.”

“Students often ask for sweets such as candy bars, or sweet rolls or regular sodas, and that is likely not going to happen,” Shope said. 

The store is staffed by student council members and community service workers. 

“I decided to work [at] the school store in the morning to be involved with student council and to learn the business side of the organization. I think the best part of the school store is seeing all of my friends buy items and support student council,” senior Mayah Marasco said. 

According to Marasco, the busiest time of the store is during homeroom. 

“The store’s busiest time is during homeroom because people stop to buy snacks or drinks before they start their day of school.  People enjoy buying snacks, breakfast bars or drinks to eat during the morning announcements or other times during the day.  In the morning, the most popular items are the pop tarts,” Marasco said. 

The change in location from the A building to the new B building has impacted the store. The store is now located beside the bleachers in the student commons area of the first floor.

“We definitely don’t get the traffic compared to where we were located before. We used to be located on an in and out of the building path and now we are not. I also think it’s because of the side of the building. Students are finding us, but I’m sure students still haven’t found us,” Shope said.