Eastipedia: Student Store

The Shawnee Mission East Student Stop supplies students and parents with spirit wear. It is run by the students of East’s Marketing Management class. The Shawnee Mission school district offers three levels of Marketing classes, but East head marketing teacher, Mercedes Rasmussen, decided to put her own spin on the Marketing 3 course.

“I didn’t just want to offer another lecture marketing class,” Rasmussen said. “What I thought would be fun is if I took all of the concepts the district says we have to have for [Marketing 3], and make it interactive. Everything [the students] are supposed to be learning for the Marketing Management class they are learning, but they are learning through hands-on experiences.”

Marketing Management is only available to seniors. These seniors have many responsibilities in order to keep the store running well. To name a few, they have to design and order products, price the products and advertise for their products. Students rotate between these three jobs: Product Development, Web and Internet Control, and Sales. Students are assigned to different teams by Rasmussen.

The Student Store has existed for almost 10 years, but a PTA grant last year allowed it to move from a closet near the cafeteria to an actual shop. The store funds the DECA program, which has over 150 members. DECA is an international marketing program that holds marketing competitions between schools across the country. The funds go toward travels to the national competition and chaperons.