Two unique new classes are coming to CHS this fall.

One of these classes is SBE, small business enterprise. The SBE class will be taught by business teacher Marci Boland, and aims to teach students how to run a small business. The students will learn how to run a small business by running the CHS school store.

“We were approached a couple of years ago by Mr. Luhning and Dr. Gutchewsky to say that they wanted a school store,” Boland said.

Boland, Luhning, and Gutchewsky had been brainstorming various ideas for several years, including using the area where the vending machines in the commons sit as a school store.

“We then decided, lets just take the existing space and work with it,” Boland said.

The existing school store space will be transformed and run entirely by the SBE students.

“They have to learn how to run a small business, so where they want to advertise is where they decide to advertise,” Boland said.

In addition to deciding how to advertise, students will be in charge of ordering merchandise, taking inventory, setting prices, and manning the store.

“We’re going to start small, just a few items. The kids are picking stuff they want, like bucket hats,” Boland said.

The school store will not only start small in terms of the items they sell, but also in the number of students involved. This upcoming SBE class will only have eight students.

“I’ve got to just have the kids I trust to have the keys and manage merchandise,” Boland said.

The eight students are all current juniors and members of the DECA club. They’ve already started planning and working for the store, and plan on working over the summer.

In addition to teaching students how to run a small business, the goal of the SBE class is to make the process of buying CHS gear easier and more centralized, whether it be a class t-shirt for homecoming or just a cool pair of sweatpants. Instead of writing a check and hunting down the recipient, everything will be in one place.

“We’re making a website so that you don’t have to actually go to the store to buy the t-shirt,” Junior Peter Kim, one of the eight CBE students said.

The school store plans to be open before school and at lunch.

“If anybody has suggestions of things they would love to see, they can definitely come and talk to me,” Boland said.

The second unique class that is coming to CHS is Independent Learning Endeavor. Independent Learning Endeavor will be taught by gifted specialist Stephanie Kinnison.

“Independent Learning Endeavor is an opportunity for gifted students to learn in depth about something they’re really passionate about,” Kinnison said.

Independent Learning Endeavor is similar to the classes Da Vinci and Exploratorium at Wydown Middle School, but taking research further.

“Students will make contacts within the community, whether that be in clayton or somewhere across the world to help them learn and understand their subject from an expert’s point of view,” Kinnison said.

Students in Independent Learning Endeavor will meet twice a week before school as a class and once a week individually with Kinnison in a session similar to the English conference system. During the class meetings at the beginning and end of the week, students will create constructive criticism of each other’s work and assess the changes that they make.

Kinnison decided to start the class after researching other high schools that have gifted programs.

“It was the one aspect that CHS was missing and it’s really a tough aspect to put into CHS since the curriculum is so rigorous already,” Kinnison said.

Together, SBE and Independent Learning Endeavor will create multiple new aspects for CHS.