This school year, students at Seaford High School have been running a thrift store. The nonprofit student-run store gives lessons and experiences to kids that they will be able to use beyond Seaford High.
Marta Navarro and Anthony Turner are both seniors at Seaford High who have played a pivotal part in getting the store started and keeping it running throughout the year.
Seniors Anthony Turner, left, and Marta Navarro stand in front of their thrift store’s sorting room. Photo by Hunter Nusz
“I had this dream. I literally dreamt of a thrift store being in the school,” said Navarro. Navarro acted quickly on her dream, “I came to her (Dr. Harris) the next day and told her about it. We started making flyers putting them up around the school, and just like that it was up.”
“Marta did a really nice job. She wrote a two-page proposal about what she wanted to do and why she wanted to do it, and together we were able to modify the original thought and make it more accessible for all kids, so this way kids can just come in and get what they need,” said Susan Harris, principal of Seaford High School.
The store operates just like a regular thrift store, “Once we get clothes, we fold them and put them in the back room or put them on the racks so people can see what we have,” said Turner. There are donation boxes where students, teachers, or members of the community can drop off clothes and then those clothes are put into a sorting room where different articles of clothing are sorted and then put out on hanging racks for other students to grab.
“We haven’t had any issues,” said Navarro.
Harris added, “Everyone’s been really respectful, taking what they need, nobody’s trashed it, it’s turned out to be really nice.”
Harris said that this is something that she wants to keep going over the years.
“How can we keep building community and be kind to one another? We have kids walking around with whatever they can find, because that’s just what they have. So, to be able to build a non-judgmental thrift store community where people are welcome to come in there and get what they need and take care of themselves, I think is really important and I really love that Marta had this idea and it creates another element of our school which is about community and caring for each other,” said Harris.
Seaford High School is willing to accept donations from the community to help support their students this winter. Call 302-629-4587 for more information.
