From playing with friends in a basketball tournament to Art Teacher Chris Jones having to kiss a pig, it is clear that April 2 was an interesting day at PHS. Throughout the year, the first Wednesday of every month has been a short day. Rather than letting these days be regular days with very short periods, a group of teachers has planned activities for students to enjoy. On Wednesday, April 2, the plan was to host a Peddlers Market for all homerooms.
The day started with students staying in their homerooms from 8:10 to 8:25 a.m. to complete their regular morning routine. Then, from 8:30 to 8:55 a.m., students could set up their booths for the market. After that, the Peddlers Market was open for business from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Walking around the market, it was common for students to be in groups playing video games, selling food, dumping water on people, and eating a fabulous Jeremy Reynolds burger (see right).
Altogether, 26 booths were open for business that day, with people buying everything from Taco Bell or for their friends to get pied in the face. However, only one booth came out on top with a profit of over $400. This winning title goes to Mrs. Higgins’ homeroom. The winning booth’s activity was a pie in the face. This was where anyone could pay to have a student or staff member of the customer’s choice be pied in the face. But if the person someone paid to get pied in the face did not want to have this happen to them, the person getting pied could pay extra to get out of it.
Though Higgins’ homeroom did have the most profitable booth, the most profitable grade as a whole was the senior class. These homerooms were Jones, Manship, Wilson, and Wishart. Jones’s homeroom had an ice cream shop, Manship’s homeroom had a raffle for gift baskets, Wilson’s sold chicken strips with French fries, and Wishart’s sold Chick-Fil-A. These businesses’ profits would bring the senior class to the top of the profit scale compared to other grades.
Many of these booths had been advertising in the halls what they would be hosting and selling for a week or so before the event. Also, some booths had sign-ups for competitions on the day of the Peddlers Market, a week before the event. So, some definite marketing strategies were implemented in the school leading up to the event.
At 11 a.m., the party ended as students and teachers reported to their lunches and classes. After the event, each homeroom class was surveyed about the overall event, asking questions about how it went and what could make it better. The survey also helped students recognize what life skills were necessary for success in the Peddlers Market and how they could improve on these skills.
The credit for planning and organizing this event goes to PBIS Chair Chris Lindley. Lindley also collected all of the surveys at the end of the Peddlers Market to report all the profits made by each homeroom. Overall, the Peddlers Market was a huge success but left a bit of a mess in the upper gym, which stressed Lindley a bit. Luckily, Lindley’s anxiety was eased by custodian Kevin Moon, who reassured him the mess was no big deal. Much fun was had, and much food was eaten during this year’s Peddlers Market.