Indian Creek student-run business showcases work at open house

Indian Creek’s student-run business, Creek Manufacturing, showcased its custom apparel and embroidery to community members Wednesday evening.

Creek Manufacturing held an open house at Indian Creek High School where community members watched live demonstrations of apparel making and embroidery led by students. More than a dozen people watched the printing process from making print screens to drying to stretch tests and learned how the student-run business operates.

Creek Manufacturing covers large quantities and small quantities orders and is self-sufficient. Students manufacture apparel for Indian Creek Schools and various businesses.

The open house aimed to showcase the skills and creativity of Indian Creek students, offering insight into their work and dedication to the student-run venture. Creek Manufacturing provides hands-on experience in business operations, design and production.

Creek Manufacturing allows students to manage and produce T-shirts and signage. Principal Luke Skobel is proud to have a program like Creek Manufacturing at Indian Creek High School, he said.

Students learn skills through the class that will help them in their future careers. Students learn the responsibility of running and managing a business, contacting customers, creating punch orders and completing them promptly. The class teaches students valuable skills that they couldn’t learn in a book or from a computer, Skobel said.

“We pride ourselves on our mission of empowering students with knowledge and responsibility and perseverance so that they can go on and achieve excellence after they leave us,” Skobel said. “I think this class really captures teaching students those skills.”

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The knowledge that students get from the experience translates to a variety of careers, said Jake Scott, business teacher. Manufacturing isn’t just t-shirts or signs, it’s graphic design, business management, finance management, marketing and more. The class has a leadership team of three, a CEO, CFO and a Production Manager. The leadership team helps facilitate work for the day or week for two other business classes at Indian Creek. The other workers help make the shirts.

“It gives an opportunity for our students to be able to see that whether they want to go be in construction, whether they want them to be a nurse, or they want to go into business manufacturing, maybe they want to own their own business someday. I think just gives us another avenue for our students to learn from,” Scott said.

Shayna Stevens, the company’s CEO, gave community members a demonstration of the printing process. Stevens oversees orders from start to finish. Being a part of the team, students learn how to purchase products, how to design graphics, how to write an invoice and send professional emails, she said.

The process of making a shirt is easy. A customer places an order, they chat and get a quote. From the quote, they get design approval and then they create the order. Throughout the process, Stevens has learned how to manage others, communicate in a professional manner and help the business, she said.

The class is not like a traditional business class, she said. Students are often up, moving around the room and interacting with each other.

“This is a great opportunity for students, especially at our age, where it opens your eyes real-world stuff,” Stevens said.

Nolan Harden, the company’s project manager, is in charge of putting the equipment together. He took the class to learn more about managing and how to run a business, he said.

Harden focuses on quality control. Safety first, quality always is Creek Manufacturing’s motto when it comes to printing, he said.

Harden does stretch tests on products and makes sure temperatures in the dryers are correct. A shirt won’t dry unless it’s been run through their drying machines. 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 to collaborate if interested. Creek Manufacturing can be reached at [email protected].