November 21, 2024 - Smithson Valley High School’s Valley Student Store is a student-run business under the guidance of CTE teacher Gloria Wolfshohl. The Valley Student Store is open during school lunch hours and features student-developed designs on a variety of apparel. From t-shirts to temporary face tattoos, each item for sale has been designed by students with careful consideration for the clientele, cost to produce, and demand.
The Valley Student Store, which opened its doors in 2016 with the help of Wolfshohl’s Entrepreneurship class, began as a project for the students and quickly became a legitimate business operated by a new class each year.
“It is completely, 100 percent, student driven,” says Wolfshohl. “Every step of the way, the students took control of the development of the store. I just guided them along.”
During the store’s development phase, students met with industry professionals, including representatives from USAA and Dell Computers as well as Comal ISD employees from the business department, to ensure their business model would succeed.
Through the years, students have made improvements to the store, and the current student-operators including Colton Kadlacek, Kyle Dear, and Angela Morales, have taken the store a step further by being the first team to complete a Software Program Conversion and System Update, improving the store’s processes for future teams.
The store's merchandise is sourced from local business vendors as well as a few incubator student projects. When deciding on introducing a new product, the team reviews a product's proposal and decides together whether or not it would be profitable for the store.
Currently, the store features a previous student’s jewelry line, a shirt with student-made art, and a variety of student-created embroidered apparel designs.
“We listen to our customers on what they want, and we try our best to meet that demand,” explains Dear, who serves as the store’s accounting and financing manager.
This year's team has launched a Valley Student online store attached to the Smithson Valley High School website, featuring all available merchandise and an order form for in-store purchases.
All proceeds are used to keep the store in business for the following year. The students obtain industry based certifications for the course, including PayK12 training, small business and entrepreneurship, accounting, iCEV (a certification that validates a student’s knowledge and skills for a career), and more.
For Dear, being involved in Wolfshohl’s CTE class and running the school store is providing him with experience he can apply towards a future career.
“The experience of learning how to run a business in high school, before attending college, is very valuable. Even if you don't want to go into business, you can still work on your communication skills and organizational skills, as well as financial skills through this class.”
Morales, the store’s human resources officer, agrees that running the store has taught them valuable skills that can be applied to any career field they choose.
“Even if I pursue dentistry, if I decide to open my own practice, I will have the business experience and knowledge to be successful. Business is in almost every career field,” says Morales.
Kadlacek, the store’s marketing manager, will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall to study engineering. He plans to use the skills he has learned in Wolfshohl’s Entrepreneurship and Business Marketing and Finance course to pursue management positions in his future career.
The Valley Student Store is providing students with the experience of running a small business. By developing the skills necessary to keep the business running, they are better prepared for success in their future career fields.
Thank you Gloria Wolfshohl for providing students with a Path to Success.
Photo Descriptions
- Smithson Valley High School student store team; from left to right: Gloria Wolfshohl, Colton Kadlacek, Kyle Dear, Angela Morales
- Smithson Valley High School student store team during a sale
- Smithson Valley High School student store team member Angela Morales