With the help of business teacher Amelia Darby, a group of innovative students in a OHS’s Marketing II class came together to create a student-run vending machine, aiming to bring creativity and community to their school community.
“So the vending machine project comes from the inspiration of our career and technology program we have at Oakville High School, and we used to have the school store that was run at the Claw Mart, but that has since then come to the concession stand,” Darby said.
This project not only seeks to provide access to snacks but also encourages marketing students to use collaboration, problem-solving skills and entrepreneurship.
“We made a Google Form to pick the snack to give everyone’s opinion in the class [Marketing II] and outside opinions from students,” Josie Billings (12) said. “Then for inventory, we kind of went off of how much each thing sells and what we can make profit off the most…”
While the school district has restrictions on the products that can be sold and what the ingredients are, marketing students set the vending machine to be accessible to students after school instead.
“[We limit the machine until after school] because of the products we sell, which are products with more sugar and it’s not approved based on what the school can serve and sell. So they have to be after school hours,” Billings said.
By being in charge of the machine design, maintenance and the inventory, students learn responsibility and skills beyond the classroom.
“Me and a bunch of the other kids [from Marketing II], we all stock it regularly and so does Darby,” Matt Kossman (12) said. “We also all choose the products and we switch items out when it’s not doing so good, and then we put another item in there.”
With the vending machine becoming popular within the school environment, the class’ initiative reflects a growing interest in fostering more student-driven projects in the future.
“I think that it’s pretty cool and fun,” Kossman said, “because it’s just us, and that makes it more special because it’s just us marketing kids.”
