New Spirit Store Open at HKHS

From beanies to hoodies, pens and coffee mugs, to ties and scarves, if you want to show your school spirit at Haddam Killingworth High School you can buy it in the school spirit store that opened this year.

Run by the students at HK for the students of HK, the concept is to generate a positive and supportive attitude towards the schools, says Monica Hansen, a Special  Education Assistant at the high school.

"A school with lots of school spirit has positive energy and thus students find school not only an academic place, but a place for students to feel unified and part of a community," the school notes in a flyer. "The HK School Spirit Store offers a chance to connect with the school for those who do not play a sport, belong to any clubs or simply want to increase their school spirit."

Haddam Killingworth High School has implemented a number of school spirit initiatives including the reintroduction of the cheerleading program several years ago and the formation of the Cougar Den - a student led cheering section that supports the school's athletic teams (who doesn't love the Ole, Ole, Ole, HK, HK chant!).

At HK, the school spirit store is operated by students in the special education program, giving them an opportunity to interact with their fellow students and teachers that they might not get to during the school day," says Hansen.

"The school spirit store gives these students the opportunity to use life skills," says Hansen. "It forces them to use social skills and interact with people."

The school spirit store is open every school day during the high school lunch/activity period. Students who help out in the store earn community service hours as compensation. The students do the record keeping and order supplies. One student is in the process of designing a website for the store that will be connected to the school website and allow students and those outside the high school to order products online. Junior Cody McLean has taken his artistic talents and created a graffiti-style HK logo on the rolling doors of the store.

The small space - formerly used as a storage closet outside the main office - has been transformed by the students. The walls have been painted gold and sample products are hung around the walls. Unused book shelves and coat racks have been given a new purpose. A sofa has recently been installed and students stop by to watch a re-broad cast of recent basketball games (or football or baseball or other sport depending on the season).

Merchandise is constantly being updated when students offer new ideas. Everything is sold at cost and reinvested back into the store. Since candy and drinks are not allowed outside the cafeteria no food is sold in the store. But you can find pens and pencils, gym shorts, sweatpants and sweatshirts, lanyards and coffee cups, car flags, Cougar Den t-shirts, canvas tote bags, ties, fleece blankets, and small sport sacks. When spring comes there will probably be other items available.

"The kids are really making the store their own," says Hansen. "They have lots of ideas, which they have to run by me first but they know what's acceptable and take on the challenge and make it happen.

"We play the music, within reason, that they like and they've really made this place their own," says Hansen. "It's not about me or other adults in the building. It's about reaching out to our students and making a connection with them.'

HK Principal Charlie Macunas is thrilled that Hansen has spearheaded the school store. "We had stock on hand from various other events and I had envisioned a school store being operated as part of our business curriculum but never had a teacher with the time to get it up and running," he says. "The store is really generating a sense of community with more and more students stopping by not necessarily to buy anything but to socialize for a few minutes."

If you're looking for a gift for a team captain or coach or a soon-to-be-graduate, the HK school store is your place for one-stop school-spirit shopping.