Have you ever designed your own toy? Or printed your own design?
One staff member who runs a small business is Shannon McMaster, a credit recovery teacher who also designs and creates toys for neurodivergent children at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“They go through a lot of toys and things for the kids to use, so we decided as a club to start printing fidgets for them,” said McMaster.
McMaster works with the Technology Student Association or better known as the TSA club, 3D printing her own designs for the children. Even though she doesn’t get any money for what she does, it doesn’t make her like it any less.
She values her work and says it’s her favorite part of her day. Mental health is an important part of her values, she said, and one of the main reasons she started this business.
“Mental health is really important to me, and I think it is for a lot of the kids in the club, and just having something that you can give to a family so they know that somebody is thinking about them and caring about them is good.” McMaster said.
She also mentioned that the students used the 3D printers, and they made some at home, as she designed some at school as well.
McMaster said that the toys were open for everybody to use, and they were age-appropriate.
One message McMaster wants to leave the world with is, “Do what you can for others because you never know what somebody’s going through. And to always be there for people.”
Another familiar face who caters a business is Wendy Jordan, who owns a catering business through ASB at Shorewood since 2012, and works with Nick Hurtado and Andrew Ely, as well as the students who also help participate in this business.
They do box lunch sales a couple of times a year, which she explains as a lunch bag box or a lunch bag type lunch.
It contains a cookie, water, fruit, and usually some kind of salad. She also mentioned that she had been incorporating a lot more bread lessons into the curriculum for Foods and Nutrition and Cuisine and Culture.
She also mentioned that she does other catering-type businesses. “Additionally, other types of catering that we do are like cookie platters for different clubs, like homecoming, or we do box lunch sales a couple times a year.”
She said her business is also run by the students as well and they participate in the catering.
Chef Wendy makes sure to cater to allergies as well, helping everyone have a safe, memorable, and fun experience. She also said their vegetables came from the local Shorewood garden.
To sum it up, she said, “They’re just really creative [the class] and don’t seem to have a whole lot of fear, and they dive in.”
