New Bobcat Boutique gifts Marshalltown students confidence
Tucked away in a tiny theater dressing room inside Marshalltown High School is a boutique. It’s filled with dresses, slacks, ties, blazers and dress shoes for students to shop — for free.
Bobcat Boutique has only been open since February, but like any good business, the idea came long before it opened for customers.
“We start conversations in August and in September about potential service projects that we'd like to take on,” says Charlotte Santana, one of the high school’s student senate advisors.
At the beginning of every school year, the senate discusses what service projects to hold for the rest of their classmates. They ran through a list of ideas and couldn’t decide on anything solid until they took a break to debrief the homecoming dance that had just happened. That’s when they realized the need for formal clothes.
“Many didn't show up to homecoming because they couldn't afford the accessories to come,” says Emma Clawson, a member of the student senate.
The student senate members were sure of what they wanted to do, but they needed to figure out how to fund it. That’s where the Marshalltown Arts and Culture Alliance came in.
The alliance is a nonprofit committed to keeping Marshalltown a thriving community. They gave the student senate $1,500 to buy what they’d need to run the boutique.
Student senate members started shopping for the boutique with the grant at local stores. They advertised around campus and at local events, and soon enough, parents and students donated too. The goal was to support everyone locally.
Soon, the boutique would support one of their own. Madison Guipre, a Marshalltown High School senior and member of the student senate, got her prom dress from the boutique.
“It's hard to find a dress for a cheap price that's modest and that is good for prom. But Bobcat Boutique allowed me to be able to find a dress that fits all of that criteria,” she said.
The boutique would also help another student who came for a suit for an interview at Fareway. He ended up getting the job.
“We have a Google form that students fill out with their size, like what color preference they want. And then we match them up with one of our personal shoppers from the committee, and they come in and they pick out the clothes,” Clawson said.
Everything was created with intention. The information from the Google form, like the location of the boutique, is hidden so students can shop comfortably. They use the bathroom inside the boutique as a dressing room. There’s a mirror inside to make sure everything fits, and if it doesn’t, they can bring it to one of the school’s sewing teachers to hem.
“You want to give students the opportunity to achieve, no matter what they're tackling,” Santana said.
The student-led boutique is growing with donations. They are already looking ahead to fall and have been gathering clothes for next school year. They want to expand the Bobcat Boutique to Miller Middle School, the only middle school in Marshalltown.
“We're trying to keep everything local just to show that with that networking and interconnectedness, we can fulfill students' needs,” Santana said.
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