What happened to the Tiger Den?

Ella Newman Social Media Manager

This 2022 school year is the first in 20+ years that the Tiger Den, which was the Arcata High campus student store, hasn’t been open and running.

You could buy lunch, snacks, spirit wear, and other miscellaneous items there. Food items included a number of things like Smug’s pizza, real fruit smoothies, and fresh popped popcorn.

Spirit wear included Arcata High merch like hoodies, sweatpants, T-shirts, and more. It was completely student run. The advisor was the Business and Marketing teacher because the Tiger Den was a huge part of the class, if not the main focus.

This class and working in the Tiger Den gave students job experience and taught students how to run a business. The class also covered things like how to make effective ads and logos, how to count a till, and an opportunity to get a ServSafe certificate so that you’re food handler certified.

Working in the Tiger Den had so many perks. You got paid minimum wage while you’re at school. You met all kinds of students you might have never spoken to otherwise, and you got experience that helped you during and after highschool.

Kelly Helms, Arcata High Tech Essentials teacher for twenty-three years, taught Business class and ran the Tiger Den for roughly twelve years.

Helms hasn’t noticed as much spirit wear on campus this year since the Tiger Den has been shut down. She feels strongly about the Tiger Den being gone.

“We’ve lost a business pathway besides Work Experience on campus and business avenues like what the Pepperbox can provide through networking with the marketing and things like that. There’s no true business pathway that I see on our campus,” Helms said. while he is Principal.

Arcata High principal Ron Perry, said that legal issues regarding food and the hiring process was a big reason why it was shut down. Helms explained that she has never experienced any legal issues, even being responsible for it for over twelve years.

Perry claims that the Tiger Den could not stay open and still maintain a good standing with the state due to the rules and regulations.

“The Tiger Den in terms of selling materials like shirts and swag and that sort of stuff, sure, we’re going to try and figure that out because there’s a demand for that. But in terms of selling food, no. And right now, I think it’s important to note that the food is free on campus. Any student who wants to get breakfast or lunch can get that right over there,” Perry said, referring to the cafeteria.

However, the Tiger Den did help the long line for cafeteria food which is complained about by staff and students.

Previous Tiger Den employee, junior Nora Talty, expressed her feelings about working in the Tiger Den.

“To me, the Tiger Den was a fun environment where we got to build friendships and learn about new techniques of how to run a business,” Talty said.

Talty hopes the Tiger Den will return.

Senior Caleb Constancio, has been a frequent customer to the Tiger Den since his freshman year.

Constancio saw the Tiger Den as a great convenience because if you didn’t want to leave the school for lunch, you could still get good food and not have to wait in the long cafeteria line. He appreciated how the store had chalkboards of helpful school information too.

“I think it was a good idea and a good system. I’m not too sure why they took it out,” Constancio said.

The business class was more than just the Tiger Den, it was tied to a curriculum with real world situations.

Helms is very sad and hears all the time from previous Business students that the Tiger Den is what got them their jobs and to where they are in life.

“It was Business and Marketing that gave me life in my teaching career, and I feel like the wind definitely got sucked right out from underneath me. It’s rough. It’s sad. I don’t think people really know how much heart and soul I put into it to make it what it was,” Helms said.

On top of this, the school could not find someone to teach the class with the qualifications needed, and the class wasn’t part of a CTE program which made it a lower priority to the school.

Helms confirmed that the class no longer exists at Arcata High. The space for the Tiger Den is now being used for Kelly Miller’s Floral Design class.

The biggest issue was that the menu had a very difficult time meeting nutrition requirements in regards to California laws.

However, last school year the class did extensive research to fit in the guidelines and it was ultimately met. Regardless, Perry does not see the Tiger Den returning