By Tyler Lin
Bear Essentials, the store for buying school wear located in C Hall next to the Production Room, has been a part of La Cueva since 2019.
Right now is a good time for deals and finding new merchandise, from hoodies, to water bottles, and other supplies.
Special education teachers, Heidi Weitzel and Amy Jenschke supervise the school store while students maintain the store by stocking the shelves, helping customers, and taking customers' money.
Junior Ava Padilla works in the school store as the greeter saying, “Hi, welcome to the
Store!” Her favorite items are hoodies, which sell for $40 a piece and the store’s most expensive item.
Freshman Robert Pacheco helps customers choose what size fits them best, and Junior Samuel Fernandez takes the cash from customers.
The store serves the school population. It’s also a classroom that teaches special education students how to handle money, strengthen their communication skills, and hold a job. Weitzel and Jenschke hope that these kids will grow up to be independent adults with a successful career.
“All these kids here need to develop skills that can help them be able to hold a job in the future and the store is just a part of what we do to help them prepare for that,” Weitzel said.
Jenschke also said they try to give students tasks based on real jobs, like helping in a store or talking to customers. They also work with DECA to help promote the store and set up events.
Weitzel hopes that they can expand their marketing. “We need to help expand our marketing, just letting the rest of the school know that the store exists and what we have to offer and that there's some good deals in there,” she said.
The school store is open Monday through Wednesday during lunch.