Building Spirit and Business Acumen at St. Michael-Albertville High School

Retailers weren't the only businesses cashing in on Thanksgiving shoppers. Students at St. Michael-Albertville High School sold over $3,500 in merchandise such as T-shirts, jackets, water bottles and coffee mugs before and after Thanksgiving as part of a class in entrepreneurism.

"They come up with products, they check on the prices and decide on how much they are going to sell it for," said the class' teacher, Tony Mallinger. "It gives them an introduction on what it's like running their own business."

The business received a huge boost the week before Thanksgiving, as the students hosted a "Black Tuesday" event, selling merchandise at reduced prices. The sale raised about $1,000. 

The students then organized a "Turkey sale," where the store opened to the community over Thanksgiving break with a good deal of success: Mallinger said the store made over $2,500 in sales that day.

The money raised, Mallinger said, is spent on creating new products, such as lanyards and water bottles , which are in the works. Any profits left at the end of the year goes into the school's general fund, which is assigned by the school district. 

During the trimester-long course, students work together in teams to design their own clothing and other Knights-related products, including shirts, stocking caps and sweat pants.

"Pretty much everything in here was created by someone or some group [of students]," said senior Mark Cichoski. This year's first trimester class created a dozen new ideas, including the sweat pants Cichoski designed. 

After creating the products, the students then market and sell the items in the school store, Knights R Us, which they staff before school and during lunch hour. The store is on the main floor of the high school, near the administrative offices and performing arts center. 

"It gives them an introduction on what it's like running their own business," said Tony Mallinger, the entrepreneur teacher.

The students learn about things such as production costs, profit margin and operating expenses, as well, Mallinger said. 

The class is open to juniors and seniors who have already taken at least a business course such as accounting or marketing, because Mallinger said there is simply too much to cover in the course to give all the students a background in these other topics. The class allows students to put basic economic principles, such as supply and demand, into practice. 

Cichoski just finished taking the course during first trimester and he's interested in managing his own occupational therapy clinic one day. As a start, he plans to major in physical therapy at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minn., next fall.

When the course first began seven or eight years ago Mallinger said students ran a coffee shop. But changes in state law a few years ago made it more difficult to license school-owned businesses that sold food and beverages. The result is students learn to run their own businesses through apparel and other products instead.

This year the budding entrepreneurs expanded the store online, giving community members the opportunity to purchase items even when school is out of session.

"It's so hard for us to get to the community," Mallinger said, noting that the store's hours basically mean it is only available to students, except for attempts to sell merchandise during home sporting events.