Nolan Harden, project manager, runs a freshly printed shirt through the drying machines. Jayden Kennett | Daily newspaper
Indian Creek’s student-run business, Creek Manufacturing, showcased its custom clothing and embroidery to community members Wednesday evening.
Creek Manufacturing held an open house at Indian Creek High School where community members watched live student-led demonstrations of garment making and embroidery. More than a dozen people watched the printing process from making printing screens to drying to stretch tests and learned how the student-run business works.
Creek Manufacturing covers bulk and small-quantity orders and is self-sufficient. Students produce clothing for Indian Creek schools and various businesses.
The open house aimed to showcase the skills and creativity of Indian Creek students, providing insight into their work and commitment to student-run entrepreneurship. Creek Manufacturing provides hands-on experience in business operations, design and manufacturing.
Creek Manufacturing allows students to manage and manufacture t-shirts and signs. Principal Luke Skobel is proud to have a program like Creek Manufacturing at Indian Creek High School, he said.
Students learn skills through the classroom that will help them in their future careers. Students learn the responsibility of running and managing a business, contacting customers, creating punching orders and completing them on time. The class teaches students valuable skills they couldn’t learn in a book or from a computer, Skobel said.
“We pride ourselves on our mission to empower students with knowledge, responsibility and perseverance so they can go on and achieve excellence after they leave us,” said Skobel. “I think this class really captures teaching students these skills.”
The knowledge students gain from the experience translates into a variety of careers, said Jake Scott, business teacher. Manufacturing isn’t just t-shirts or billboards, it’s graphic design, business management, financial management, marketing and more. Klasa has a management team of three people, a CEO, CFO and a Production Manager. The management team helps facilitate the work of the day or week for two other Indian Creek business classes. Other workers help make the shirts.
“It gives an opportunity for our students to be able to see that whether they want to go into construction, whether they want to be a nurse, or whether they want to go into business production, maybe they want to own their own business one day. . I think it just gives us another avenue for our students to learn,” Scott said.
Shayna Stevens, CEO of the company, gave community members a demonstration of the printing process. Stevens oversees orders from start to finish. By being part of the team, students learn how to buy products, how to design graphics, how to write an invoice and send professional emails, she said.
The process of creating a shirt is easy. A customer places an order, they chat and get a quote. From the quote, they get design approval and then create the order. Throughout the process, Stevens has learned how to manage others, communicate professionally and help the business, she said.
The class is not like a traditional business class, she said. Students often get up, move around the room and interact with each other.
“This is a great opportunity for students, especially at our age, where it opens your eyes to real-world things,” Stevens said.
Nolan Harden, the company’s project manager, is responsible for putting the equipment together. He took the class to learn more about management and how to run a business, he said.
Harden focuses on quality control. Safety first, quality is always Creek Manufacturing’s motto when it comes to printing, he said.
Harden does stretch tests on the products and makes sure the temperatures in the dryer are correct. A shirt will not dry unless it has been through their dryers. If it’s too hot, the shirt can also burn, he said.
In a few years, there could be opportunities for students to earn money and get paid through internships as the business grows, Scott said.
Creek Manufacturing encourages businesses to reach out if they are interested. Creek Manufacturing can be reached at [email protected].