Most of the programs at the Amory Career & Technical Center have the opportunity to practice the skills they obtain in a hands-on environment. Whether it be in the Metal Fabrication Shop, at the hospital for Health Sciences, in the Culinary Arts kitchen, or Teacher Academy students helping to teach children at one of our elementary schools. Yet, our Business, Marketing, and Finance (BMF) class has always struggled with finding practical ways to put into practice what they learn in the classroom.
This year that changed. Prior to the start of school there were multiple brainstorming sessions with the BMF instructor, Brian Pearson, about activities suitable for the BMF classes. The result is what would eventually become the Amory Snack Shop. Students used the first nine-weeks of school learning about small business concepts, scouting profitable locations on campus (there are three), conducting market research, ordering inventory, designing spreadsheets, and doing dry runs to practice daily operations.
"Getting the go ahead from admin to begin the Amory Snack Store has been a great addition to my business classes. Students this year have been able to be much more hands-on with our content covered about things dealing with running a small business," says Pearson.
At the start of the second nine-weeks, the Amory Snack Shop officially opened. It is operational during break each day (a fast 10 minutes of business). It is staffed completely with BMF students; who, under the supervision of a teacher-sponsor, produce a pre-sale inventory count, setup the store front, conduct sales, cross reference post-sale inventory with earnings, update spreadsheets, and make deposits with the ACTC Financial Secretary. Students, such as Asia Ivy, get the opportunity to serve as managers for each of the snack shop locations.
"As a student it is great to be able to get hands-on experience to see what its like to run an actual business. I eventually want to be lawyer and do marketing so this is extremely beneficial to my future plans," says Ivy.
"I have been nothing but impressed with how well our students have handle their job responsibilities. Everything from stockers, to inventory counts, handling money and serving as site managers. This new endeavor has been a huge success right away and the credit goes to the students for helping things run so smoothly," says Pearson.
All profits are deposited into the Student Activities Fund for both Amory High School and the Amory Career & Technical Center.