Middle Gate Elementary School students have had fun shopping at their new school store, The Eagle’s Nest, ever since it opened at the start of the school year.

Located in Middle Gate’s library, The Eagle’s Nest features a wide variety of school supplies and other items, from eraser caps and highlighters to pencil sharpeners and plushie keychains. While The Eagle’s Nest is only open for 30 minutes on Wednesday and Friday mornings, that does not stop students from excitedly crowding the library before the store even opens.

Students will line up holding some spare change or a dollar or two in a plastic bag. They then get to browse the store’s inventory, which has every item separated into little bins on a large cart. Middle Gate Counselor Melissa Arsenault and Middle Gate Library Media Specialist Suzanne Hurley, alongside a few chosen students, run different parts of the store.

One student takes inventory every time someone purchases something, while another student takes the money and puts it inside a cash box. A final student puts the purchases in a paper bag and labels them for delivery later that day. Each bag gets delivered to the teacher’s classroom for the student to take home. Hurley said this is to prevent students from losing what they bought right away and so they have a chance to show it to their families.

“It’s also to avoid too much distraction during the school day,” Hurley explained. “This way they can go with it, as opposed to buying it, losing it, and not having anything to show their parents when they get home.”

Keeping everything affordable was also very important, according to Hurley. The eraser caps, even those that come in different colors and textures, cost $.25 each. Other items, such as highlighters or pencil sharpeners, cost $.50 each.

“We tried to make it so that, if you came down here with a dollar, you could leave with several items,” Hurley said.

The Eagle’s Nest takes its name after the school’s mascot, Sully the Eagle. It also ties into Middle Gate’s motto, SOARS, which represents the expected attributes of students and staff, from spreading kindness to respecting others.

Students put those traits to the test in the school’s Leading Eagles Club, which is run by Arsenault and Hurley and focuses on community service. Hurley said the club has a suggestion box where students or staff can submit ideas for ways the club can help support the Middle Gate community. One of the suggestions from last year, Hurley said, was to start a school store.

“So our PTA helped buy one of the carts we needed ... and helped us get started with everything,” Hurley continued. “The idea is that we’ll be able to buy stuff as needed with the profits, so everything we make will go back into the school.”

Hurley and Arsenault have around 25 student workers who help them run The Eagle’s Nest, with different kids covering on different days. All of the students applied to work at the store, much like they would for a traditional job. They even had interviews with Hurley and Arsenault as to why they wanted to work at The Eagle’s Nest.

Hurley called it a “great opportunity for the students.”

“Obviously kids like buying stuff, but these kids love working the store,” she continued. “They want to have a job, they want to do stuff, they want to help. It’s just a great thing for everyone.”

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.