Bay High students pick up business skills at pop-up shop event

May 29, 2025

Fish-shaped bags, heavy metal music CDs and portraits of area pets were all on the menu for prospective buyers this spring at a new Bay High Focus Program event.
 
Bay High seniors displayed their business ideas during a pop-up shop held at the focus program’s building. Students developed personalized products, created branding and marketing strategies and built a cohesive store layout prior to the event. They then sold merchandise to customers for more than two hours on a Friday night.

 
Bay High senior Moth said she enjoyed her pop-up shop experience. She presented items from her business Chimera Arts to visitors throughout the night. Her work included linoleum-cut prints, felt keychains, t-shirts, buttons and bags sewn into a mixture of shapes.
 
“It went pretty well,” Moth said. “It was fun talking to people and getting to see things there. Every single time I’ve vended I’ve changed a few things about my setup, so I’m really happy with how my booth and my table turned out.”

 
Bay High senior Meko was also happy with how her pop-up shop fared at the event. She founded a pet portraiture business last fall with the goal of establishing a foothold in the pet drawing market. She creates portraits of various animals and then places the pictures on either buttons or t-shirts for customers.
 
“Being at the pop-up shop was a lot of fun because I got to communicate a lot with different people,” Meko said. “Because my business is about pets, I got to talk about pets with them. I love animals, so it was great to do that.”
 
Meko said she learned about the value of face-to-face conversations throughout the night. She made one commission sale and propped open the door to many more potential opportunities with her business cards.
 
“The business cards were a big success,” Meko said. “I only had about five left when it was all over, and I started out with 30, so I was able to spread the word about my business to a lot of people.”

 
Bay High business teacher Ethan Carlson said he and other staff members were pleased with the night’s outcome. One of their top goals for the pop-up shop format was to give seniors a new venue to showcase their business ideas to members of the public. They felt embedding pop-up shops into one of the focus program’s monthly Art and Thrift events would be a good solution.
 
Participants used their organizational and planning knowledge to create a detailed blueprint for the evening. Bay High students have participated in Art and Thrift showcases on the first Friday of every month throughout the year. Juniors develop an event called Skate Art Music Fest for their capstone project, and seniors focus on the entrepreneurial process of starting their own business.
 
All of those previous academic and real-world experiences came together as students talked with customers at their booths.

 
“I think this group was more excited about this opportunity than I’ve seen in the past,” Carlson said. “Our students are really invested in their personal businesses. Across the board, I thought every student really invested well into what they were excited about and came up with good business ideas.”
 
Alexander used the pop-up shop platform as a way to advertise his one-man heavy metal band called Nocturnifum. The senior handles vocals and plays drums, guitar and bass guitar for each song, which he mixes together with editing equipment in a Bay High studio. He began releasing music this past December and sold 13 t-shirts at the entrepreneurship event.
 
“I’m still kind of learning, but I’ve seen how other bands do it, how other local bands do it,” Alexander said. “I go to shows a lot and observe how their band sells merchandise and all of that. It’s pretty interesting.”

 
Moth said she has also learned a lot from her vending experiences. She has sold items at four Bay High events and felt she has improved her marketing abilities.
 
“In the beginning, I didn’t have the print holders, I didn’t even do t-shirts, so everything was just kind of laid out,” Moth said. “It looked fine, but it was kind of boring. But now, I feel that my booth has a lot more personality. I think people are more drawn in by it and intrigued by, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ It’s more eye-catching now.”
 
Carlson said the event taught students about the importance of teamwork as well. They shared ideas prior to the evening and watched those connections create stronger outcomes for everyone.
 
“There was just a lot of excitement collectively, because they knew, ‘Hey, we’re putting on this shop together, so let’s work together to make it awesome. I want to help you think about your booth and how to decorate it so it’s fun for everyone,’” Carlson said. “It really did bring the class together in a really fun and unique community-building kind of way.”

 
Alexander said Bay High experiences like the pop-up shop have set him up for future success. He said they have showed him that learning new skills should always be on the educational menu.
 
“Knowing more than one thing is definitely a smart idea,” Alexander said. “It drains you, but it’s good because you want to know more than one thing. It’s always good to have a backup plan.”
 
Visit bayhigh.lps.org to learn more about how the Bay High Focus Program inspires creative, entrepreneurial-minded students at Lincoln Public Schools.
 
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