October 12, 2022
It is beginning to feel like Christmas at the Humble ISD Spirit Store with the first shipment of holiday items arriving this week.
Ornaments with the brand of John Dutton’s famed ranch from the hit show Yellowstone and even a coffee mug with the famous line “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” from the holiday classic A Christmas Story are some of the newest arrivals on the shelves with more to come.
“We always try to stay with the trends,” Humble ISD Spirit Store Manager Tiffany Mastren said. “Christmas is coming, it started to arrive today. This is our busiest time of the year.”
The Humble ISD Spirit Store is located on the first floor of the Humble ISD Administration Building and is open weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. On Thursday, December 1, they will have a special shopping night from 5-7 p.m. You can preview merchandise available in the store on the Spirit Store website.
The neatest thing about the Spirit Store is that every item on the shelves, outside of the high school merchandise, is made by students in the Mosaic program - an innovative 18+ transition program for Humble ISD students who have received special education services and meet specific eligibility requirements.
As a part of their daily classes at the Community Learning Center, students in Mosaic have the opportunity to work in the production lab. There, they bake dog treats, make wooden signs, lazy susans, t-shirts, coasters, wind chimes and much more.
Then, each week a new shipment of items arrives at the Spirit Store.
“We are amazed and every year the merchandise just gets better and better,” Mastren said. “It is amazing what the students can do. They really enjoy what they’re doing, what they’re making and what they’re learning in production and here in the store.”
Along with making the products, two students from Mosaic come in during the day to work in the store.
“It is the next step before they are ready to get a job,” Mastren said. “It’s a good place for them to train. We run it just like any other retail store.”
The prices of items are extremely reasonable - coasters ($2), badge reels ($5), lanyards ($6), coffee mugs ($5), soap pumps ($7) and t-shirts ($10-12) to name just a few.
“We are just looking to recoup the costs so the students can buy more raw goods and make more products,” Mastren said.
Prior to opening the store inside the Humble ISD Administration Building in April of 2019, the Mosaic students had a small store in the CLC and set up pop-up shops on school campuses throughout the year.
But now with their own store, Mastren said they are getting more traffic, especially during their shopping nights, and eyes on their products. The store has even caught the attention of other school districts.
“It’s a really amazing store,” Mastren said. “It is very unique. We have had other districts come in and poke around and look and see what we do. It is a great opportunity for the students.”
All the proceeds of the Humble ISD Spirit Store (outside of the high school merchandise sales) goes back to the Mosaic program.
