Berkley High School is always thinking of new ideas to improve our school: the most recent being new additions to The Bear. The Bear is a store inside BHS with school merchandise, snacks, and drinks for students to purchase. Recently, thanks to the Advanced Marketing Class and Mr. Hunt, there are going to be many new menu items and product additions coming soon. The bear will soon be upgraded to a new version for all of BHS to enjoy. Mr. Hunt is the marketing/advanced marketing teacher and runs The Bear along with some of his students working in The Bear.
For the 2026-2027 school year, The Bear will now have two enclosures, each containing different products, adding a new aroma to BHS. The current Bear will continue being used for selling different foods and snacks for students to purchase, and the new addition will be a new room dedicated to BHS merchandise.
The idea to extend The Bear stemmed from Mr. Meloche. Meloche wanted to change the space and add something new to it, so he extended the idea over to Mr. Hunt.
Mr. Hunt quickly, “jumped on the opportunity to get more space and discussed it”. And from there they discussed as a class what they can do”.
The planning started at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, with Mr. Hunt and all of his marketing students sharing their ideas. Mr. Hunt and his students used things like “redesign mood boards, and programs to figure out what [they] wanted the feel to be like”.
The original enclosure was supposed to have a roll-down cage to lock the area, but instead, they had the opportunity to get a glass partition put in from the school district team. This will make the space more structured and fancy. The original brainstorming came from all of Mr. Hunt’s marketing classes, but all of the actual renovations and transformations happening now are from Advanced Marketing students.
There were many different expenses regarding the renovations. The biggest one is the glass partition with the wall. Renovating The Bear came with a lot of new ideas, like color scheme, shelving, and vinyl plank flooring. The District Team is installing the wood flooring and the other glass wall over spring break, to hopefully have things ready by the end of the school year.. The glass wall is being installed in the cafeteria to block it off from the lunchroom space. They are also adding things like custom fixtures for their shelving and storage, which is also contributing to the expenses.
On the other hand, Mr. Hunt stated, “We were able to repurpose some of the displays and materials that are currently in the bear to save on some of those expenses”. Many things that were originally in The Bear are still going to be used in the new renovations, like wooden shelving, storage units, and displays.
The changes to The Bear will bring many different benefits to BHS. Mr. Hunt thinks, “The vibe and look are going to add a nice piece to our school.” The new theme of The Bear brings a new energy to the school, and the shop will have a huge upgrade. Mr. Hunt also added, “We’d like to offer some different things and different options that students can enjoy.” Mr. Hunt has a hopeful goal that they could bring some competitive food options for lunch, in hopes that students can grab lunch on campus without having to worry about leaving.
Mr. Hunt and his advanced marketing class are still working really hard to bring this project to life. Students can look forward to more things available that they may be interested in purchasing. The Bear boutique will bring an exciting dynamic to the school that students will certainly enjoy.
