SSHS to host pop-up market

Koozies, earrings, candles and more will take center stage in Seeley-Swan High School this Saturday, Dec. 16 as the high school business class opens up a market to sell their handmade products.

The business class, led by teacher Michele Holmes, has been spending the semester researching and creating products that the students could grow into their own businesses, and in turn make some money from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 16.

One of the biggest values Holmes looked at is passion. She said she wanted students to be excited by their projects, which were approved by a Shark Tank like panel before going forward. The class also combined passion with feasibility and the basic economics of cost.

Holmes specially broke down the cost of a cup of dirt and worms ice cream with the class.

"We all make them and we talk about 'hey, if we are going to sell these at a market day, how do we cost this out," Holmes said. "We have all these discussions, but they are taught through a more hands on approach."

After getting their project approved, each student made much of the work from scratch, including advertising design or candle wax. Taylor Thompson made handmade jewelry, specifically earrings.

While she has made plenty outside of school, she made new patterns for the sale focused on flashy colors and designs.

"They are pretty time consuming, but I'd say they are very fun to make," Thompson said.

Tyler Haines and Ben Kesterke teamed up to make wooden coasters and Christmas ornaments. Each one was handcrafted with burned stenciling and clear coats to make a smooth finish. The coasters also come in sets of four, which range from Christmas themed to animals and scenery.

While they had little experience making coasters, Haines said they were excited for the challenge of making something new. Kesterke said they were able to make the sets by combining the project with other classes.

"A really nice thing is We can do it during art class for two hours," Kesterke said. "For awhile there we had three hours a day we could work on them."

Second year class members Cannon Hawkinson and James Hayhurst continued their project to make koozies for the sale and general community. Hayhurst said the duo had made nearly 250 koozies for businesses like Cory's and Rovero's.

Hayhurst said the koozies are bought from a veteran-owned business called Tahoe Bay. The two then made a custom logo for Seeley Lake and started selling to businesses. Each business can put their logo on the other side of the koozie, which Hayhurst said is good for 50 washes.

"It's Durable, keeps your drink cold and lot's of lakes nearby so people love them," Hayhurst said.

Other people made their entire product from scratch. Lily Burkhard and Rowan Dunn made scented candles by hand. The scents and wax had to be combined with good accuracy to make the candle smell correctly. The duo also had to make designs to put on the front of each glass.

Alternative to candles, Bailey Bartlett has six scents of wax melts. She said the scents for sale will be mostly fall festive stuff. She got materials from amazon, and made the max with scent by herself. While it looks premade, she made it all by herself.

More products will be made right before the big day.

Rebekah Kelley and Angel Bruton will be baking. While Kelley is making cookies, Bruton is hoping to complete a family recipe of Almond Roca. The treat is a chocolate covered caramel, which Bruton said has been made by her family for generations.

"Nana has retired, she has a business down in Oregon that makes it," Bruton said. "It will get passed down to me, so I am trying to get the feel before I go take over."

Another unique product will be the hot or cold rice bags made by Abby Branom. The fabric is from Deer Country Quilts, which she sewed herself with jasmine rice in the middle. With the power to heat or cool someone down, Branom said the bags will be perfect sellers for the basketball game.

"I thought basically, you're in basketball, you're going have growing pains in cramps, but if you have this you can put it in the microwave and heat it up," Branom said, adding that both basketball players and the elderly are target buyers.

There are other products like rock magnets, popcorn, bracelets and more.

The class will take over the main hall of Seeley Swan high School from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec, 16. Items will be going first come, first serve. Holmes said there will also be $25 prizes for best customer service, best storefront and largest profit and more.