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Schools

New Course, New Business for HHS Students

Marketing students get first-hand experience at Plato's Closet

An innovative new course is being offered at Herndon High School this year which will provide 20 students the opportunity they might not find anywhere else.

Instructor Julie Pickering said Entrepreneurship 9093 will introduce her students to the exciting world of creating, owning and launching their own business.

The course will teach her students the concepts and techniques needed for planning an innovative business while living the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

But unlike regular classes where students receive classroom instruction only, Pickering said this course will include supervised on-the-job training at Plato's Closet, a store that buys and sells gently used brand name clothing and accessories while paying on the spot for all items.

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The store, which opened Sept. 6, is one of two locations in the Northern Virginia area and is located at the Dulles Town Center. The second is in Chantilly.

"I got an phone call from owner Elaine Singer and basically she was in the process of getting her lease for Plato's Closet," Pickering said. "What she wanted initially was to make it aware that the kids could bring their clothes in. And as we talked more and more we kept thinking what a great partnership it would be if my kids could actually learn entrepreneurship from her at the store."

With the idea fresh in her mind Pickering met with school administration to see if it would be possible to teach her course at the store at least once a week. Her request was approved.

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"It's been a passion of mine always to have a consignment store and I told my students last year that maybe we would open up one at the high school and sell things that people brought in and give them a percentage," Pickering said. "And it just happened to coincide that while we talking about this in class I got this phone call and it was just the perfect match."

According to Singer, Plato's Closet is a very defined market targeting mainly teens and young adults. As a result, it made sense to team up with Pickering's students, she said.

"I suggested a partnership where I would help the kids learn marketing and I would also let them work in the store," Singer said. "But at the same time teach them the different aspects of retailing such as marketing, merchandising and inventory control."

Currently two of Pickerings students have been hired to work at the store part-time as well as two former Herndon High School students, Amie Marabich and Dominique Ellison, who attend Northern Virginia Community College.

Singer said she'd like to get more Herndon High School students working in her store as the school year continues.

Until then, Singer will meet with the students once a week beginning in October going over each step of owning their own business.

Upon completion of the course Pickering said each student will receive three college credit hours at Northern Virginia Community College where students will have the option to enroll.

"Are all the kids ideally going to go to NOVA? No. But my goal is that they learn entrepreneurship both in the classroom and in reality," Pickering said. "That they can really see what it would be like to actually open a store through the owner Elaine Singers' experience." 

"I have a wonderful group of students and I'm just looking forward to them having this experience. It's always something I wanted to do," Pickering said. "And the experience I'm looking forward to the most is actually being in the store and watching the kids learn while they're actually doing the work."

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