Clovis West High students built a ‘boutique’ store for classmates in need. How they did it
Inside a classroom in one of the main buildings at Clovis West High, shoes and school supplies are neatly arranged on golden shelves. Rows of clothing dangle on velvet hangers. Glass shelves carry shopping bags tied with golden ribbons.
And a plush carpet is the first thing would-be shoppers see when they enter Golden Eagle Outfitters, a project led by dozens of Clovis West students months in the making.
Students and educators spent months transforming a classroom into Golden Eagle Outfitters, a no-cost store vying to help students who need clothing have an experience where they can shop with dignity and respect.
Erin Garcia, an English teacher at Clovis West and advisor for the school’s Interact Club, said she got the idea for Golden Eagle Outfitters last spring when one of her students needed dress shoes for the school’s graduation ceremony. Garcia helped her student find a pair of shoes at a yard sale.
How many other Clovis West students, she wondered, were in a similar scramble?
Over the next couple of months, the effort turned into a massive group project involving about 40 students from various school clubs and programs.
Special needs students did the laundry, folding and sorting clothes as part of a life skills course, Garcia said. Kids on the school’s Interact Club collected donations from the community, and assembled the store’s racks and decorations. Students from other clubs, such as the school’s Fashion Club, chipped in and solicited donations from local stores.
“It’s been a wonderful community effort,” Garcia said.
Garcia emphasizes Golden Eagle Outfitters is not a thrift store, and students involved in the effort hope “shopping” there feels “like a boutique experience,” she said. The hallway leading to the classroom-turned-store is decorated with students’ drawings and slogans, such as “clothing with confidence” and “happiness in every hoodie.”
Near the entrance, a gold and black poster reads, “Within these walls, you are valued, you are supported, you are ready to shine!”
Students can visit the store by appointment. Families in the Clovis West area should contact their school sites’ transition team to set up an appointment for their students to enjoy an uninterrupted shopping experience, Garcia said.
The store served its first customer earlier last week, said Sarah Quesada, Clovis West area transition director.
“There was a student on one of the sports teams, we found out that their house burned down and lost everything,” Quesada said. ”We were still putting (the store) together, but I said, “Come on over, let’s just get you some things.” I mean, if they don’t have clothes, children can’t come to school.”
Students who built the store say it’s been rewarding to see it come together.
“Getting the opportunity to be a part of this with peers at Clovis West has been such an amazing experience,” said Gianna McComas, a student donation ambassador. “I’ve gotten to understand the true reasoning behind this, and also get to go through all these beautiful clothes and spend so much time organizing.”
Kennedy Morrow was among the students who led the store’s marketing efforts. The marketing team will advertise the store through social media, she said.
”We saw a problem in our community, and we really wanted to help change that and provide a solution, like help people who are in need of clothes for maybe a job interview,” Morrow said. “I was able to help advertise it to the community and help other people understand why we are doing it.”
Garcia said most of the clothes are donations from the community. She hopes there will be more seasonal items, such as outfits for prom, as graduation season approaches.
“I’ll be honest with you, when I had the conversations in August, I thought it was going to start in a portable trailer, and people are just going to stack up clothes, we’ll grab them and give them to people,” she said. “This looks like it’s going to be totally different. I think it’s going to keep blossoming.”
