business backgrounder | education & workforce
started as an L-shaped kiosk in the center of the building in 2023 expanded into a full 420-square-foot storefront in November of 2024. The store pays 10 % of sales back to the Port as rent. The rest of the proceeds go back into the school’ s CTE program. There are plenty of rewards beyond the monetary.“ That is the coolest thing— when you go around the neighborhood and you see someone mowing the lawn and they’ re wearing one of our Sasquatch shirts, it’ s hysterical,” Jones said.
national interest
The program is attracting some well-deserved attention.
U. S. Sen. Patty Murray visited the Kalama design lab just a few days before it hosted Washington Business magazine. And U. S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has not only visited the class, she invited Torppa to be her guest at the 2023 State of the Union Address.
“ Supporting career and technical education programs is key to rebuilding the American workforce, but too many students are still told that a college degree is the only path to a successful future,” Gluesenkamp Perez said.“ Mr. Torppa is opening so many doors for Kalama students to pursue good-paying, high-demand careers in the trades while making sure they’ re having fun along the way.”
Stacy Jones, the marketing instructor and career-connected learning coordinator at Kalama High School, shows off a Mount St. Helens sticker her students designed, printed and have for sale along with many other goods around her at the Chinook Shoppe at the Port of Kalama.( Brian Mittge / AWB)
Back in the classroom, Elysia Wuollet, a freshman student in the marketing class, was applying“ Mount St. Helens” decals to T-shirts. They’ re a popular item at the Chinook Shoppe.
“ It’ s very creative and I like how we learn,” Wuollet said.“ It’ s hands-on. Not much room for error. You learn that pretty quick. I think this is the only class I feel like where I’ m actually learning something that I will put to use in the real world... I feel like any job I get, any business I start, I will use these skills.” spring 2025 39