Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school’s Rebels Express store for the last eight years. Located at 4900 Shankland Road, the student-run store makes and sells various spirit wear items such as T-shirts, hoodies, jackets and mugs. Last year, according to the Willoughby-Eastlake School District, the store had $81,000 in sales. Students who work in the store are led by Daneen Baller, a South High business education teacher, and take on the role of running the business from marketing, accounting, sales, to design and printing. With the North High School versus South High School football game scheduled for Oct. 11, the week of Oct. 8 has been a busy one for the store. “We took a different twist on entrepreneurship and more experienced-based learning for kids where they get to learn now to run the business by actually doing it,” Baller said. “They get to make all the decisions and they are deciding on what new products to bring in, advertising to their fellow students and their parents.” Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Show Caption1 of 6Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Expand Annually, students set a sales goal for the store and when every decision is being made, that goal is kept in mind, Baller said. The sales goal for this year is $95,000. “I feel confident, with this group of young men and women, they’re going to hit their goal,” said Superintendent Patrick Ward. “Future readiness, creating, critical thinking, communicating and being resilient all happens here on a daily basis because this is real life. The future of education is experiential learning, hands-on learning and doing active things like this to prepare for the next step in your journey. They’re blazing a trail for the future for what education is.” Currently, Baller has about 40 students covering between two periods, as well as coming in during their lunch periods to work. “They will come in and work some athletic events at night as well,” she said, noting that the students working at the store are in grades 10 through 12. The store also does work for other schools in the district and not only sells apparel related to athletics, but to the district as well. Two and a half years ago, a presentation was made to the School Board to seek a Small Business Loan for the store. As a result, the store now has an embroidery machine to step up its offerings. “Part of our business management we learn about is we have to make sure we pay back our debt on time, but having this machine allowed us to expand,” Baller said. “With some of the equipment going down, we’ve had to revert to other ways to make sure we are able to function.” Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Show Caption1 of 2Willoughby South High School students have taken on various entrepreneurial roles at the school's Rebels Express spirit shop for the last eight years. (Marah Morrison -- The News-Herald)Expand Among the students working at the store is Lebron Maxie, a South High School senior who has taken on a managerial type of role at the store alongside two other students. “Everybody who works in here is friendly and we all work together,” he said. “We went past our sales goal last year, so that was pretty cool.” Even though running the business has the same structure, students have expressed it’s a different vibe each year. Students have also expressed they enjoy coming into the store to design new things and having the opportunity to come up with most of the designs they create as it gives them creative freedom they don’t get in other classes. Students also observed that the store is a cool way to replicate what college bookstores do. “You get to run a business, see how it works, how you make it and how you distribute it,” said Maria Osagie-Erese, a South High School student who works in the store. “It’s cool to experience it.” Osagie-Erese engraves cups that are sold in the store and will soon be having a new water bottle come out. “I enjoy laser cutting anything,” she said. “Cups are my favorite because it’s something you’d expect to see in a store. I love how surprised people are. They’re like, ‘Oh you made this?’ ” Osagie-Erese would like to laser cut in the future and also sees herself pursuing a career in engineering. “You realize that it’s not easy, but it’s not that hard,” she said. “It’s fun.” Rebels Express is open Monday through Friday from 10:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m and closed on Saturday, and Sunday. Orders can be placed at rebelexpress.square.site.