S.O Saves! – Thrift Shop At Francis Lewis
Students rushed into the small room labeled under Gym 4, and skimmed around the place with their friends viewing the clothing and trinkets around them. Dresses with flounces, flowers, and frills hang in a row, one after the other. Small racks of jewelry shimmer on a surface next to a pile of winter hats and knit scarves. Shoppers ran their hands through the beaded necklaces and embellished earrings. The gym slowly emptied out toward the end of the period, and some head out with new pieces to add to their wardrobe at home.
On January 17, the Student Organization held their first thrift shop at Francis Lewis High School. Leah Katzap, junior class president and member of the Student Organization, proposed the idea after inspiration from an event she witnessed during a college tour. The shop took place between periods 7 to 11. Apparel was free for students who had an S.O card, and those who didn’t have an S.O card paid $5.
“I came up with this idea when I was on a college tour for Washington University in St. Louis,” Katzap said. “They basically had a store on campus which was a thrift shop, and I thought it would be a great idea to bring this to Francis Lewis. The S.O advisors told me that it’s all up to me… and I’m so thankful for them. They let me organize it and run the whole thing so it was pretty cool!”
Thrifting has become an increasingly popular practice among teenagers. My Anh Phan, junior at Francis Lewis High School and S.O member, explained that she thrifts because it benefits the environment, conserves resources, and lessens the impact of fast fashion.
“I do commonly thrift outside of school because I do like thrifting, and I think it’s a really good way to stop fast fashion, and it’s a smaller way to help the environment,” Phan said. “Instead of shopping fast fashion, which wastes a lot more resources and also a lot more money, I’d rather thrift.”
A 2018 study by the Environmental Protection Agency said that the total amount of textiles in municipal solid waste combusted was 3.2 million tons. This made up 9.3% of all combusted waste at the time. In addition, landfills received 11.3 million tons of textiles, which made up 7.7% of all landfill waste in 2018. The EPA says that 16 million tons of textile waste is produced in America each year.
Members say that thrift shops provide several benefits. For example, their own thrift shop limited waste, recycled and reused old clothes, decreased crowding in landfills, and combated fast fashion issues.
“[The thrift store] allows us to recycle old clothes and basically eliminate fast fashion and waste in the fashion community,” Katzap said.
Ms. Dana Grskovic, Coordinator of Student Activities at Francis Lewis also added that aside from the environmental impact, the S.O’s shop allowed students access to clothes, a necessity that many can’t afford.
“There are a lot of kids who may need things that are more than academics, like clothing for example, and not all of them feel comfortable speaking up about it,” Ms.Gskovic said. “We were trying to find a way to reach students who might need things like this and didn’t want to say it, in a way that’s acceptable for everyone.”
While the thrift shop provided accessibility for many students, S.O members noted some of the challenges they faced while preparing for the thrift shop.
“One of the first major struggles was spreading the word out to people because our posters that we wanted to make were delayed and there were other events happening at school that we were planning… [so] it kind of put the thrift on the back burner,” Katzap said. “But at the end it worked out… it wasn’t really a struggle [and] I think most of it went smoothly.”
Some students agree that the conflicts the S.O experienced during the process of creating the thrift shop effected their view of the shop.
“I didn’t hear about the thrift store [until] after the day it started coming out,” junior at Francis Lewis High School, Michelle Huang said. “I think my friend told me so I was a bit excited when I heard about it.”
In addition to a lack of exposure of their thrift shop, the S.O also faced inconvenience because of last minute donations and low diversity in clothing.
“There were people donating to us on the day of, which was kind of counterproductive because [we then had to] throw in donations last minute,” Katzap said. “And also there weren’t a lot of men’s clothes that were donated, so that [was] also an issue.”
Despite the obstacles that S.O members experienced, their first thrift shop appeared to be a success. This was in part due to the extra assistance the S.O received from Virtual Enterprise in setting up and organizing the shop. Students and the S.O found several intriguing items of clothing at the store. Members of the S.O found the styles and attire of shoppers appealing during the process of the thrift shop.
“What I find super interesting about the thrift is seeing everyone’s styles,” Katzap said. “[Also] what lies in people’s closets and what people think they should get rid of.”
Ms. Anne Whitney, Senior Advisor in the Student Organization at Francis Lewis, found that teachers also participated and showed their enthusiasm for the thrift shop.
“I guess we didn’t realize how much staff would be involved,” Ms.Whitney said. “They were really into it… as much as the kids, and I didn’t predict that happening.”
The S.O lists what alterations they plan to make during the coming thrift shop in the spring.
“We are going to do another one in the spring,” Ms.Grskovic said. “And instead of running after school I think we’re going to try to fix the hours, and get some more items in, make sure their enough to be accessible to all genders, and hopefully get more people in.”
Overall, the thrift store was a great success according to Grskovic.
“It’s really cool for me, I mean something like this- my job in this school is really just to help the students here and the members of the S.O bring their visions to life,” Ms.Grskovic said. “It was really cool to see something that our kids were interested in, really be brought to life, that’s what this is about.”
