Spirit Box Tips & Tricks
We share ongoing updates, ideas and solutions from other Spirit Box school stores.
Graduating Soon? Take Your Spirit Box School Store Experience Beyond High School
For both students and advisors, Spirit Box has been an incredible hands-on learning tool—teaching business fundamentals like inventory management, sales tracking, marketing, and pricing strategies. But what happens after high school?
Case Study: Park Tudor’s Spirit Box Success
Dive into the secrets behind Park Tudor High School's record-breaking success with their Spirit Box program. Generating almost $49,000 in 2024 through nearly 21,500 transactions, they became the top-performing school for a single Spirit Box!
How to Use Grants to Fund Your CTE Program
Introducing a Spirit Box school store vending machine is an engaging way to provide students with real-world entrepreneurship experience and hands-on learning. Whether you're a high school student eager to start a business, a teacher looking for new ways to teach business skills, or a CTE director seeking to enhance career-connected learning, securing the right funding is key to bringing your vision to life.
How to ACE Your Next Presentation:
Presentations might feel overwhelming, but they’re an exciting chance to share your passion, teach others about a great idea, and spark inspiration! Whether you’re preparing for a class project, a DECA competition, or a school-based enterprise pitch, confidence and preparation are key. School presentations are more than just assignments—they’re a vital 21st-century literacy skill that helps you think critically, communicate effectively, and engage creatively. Follow these six tips to elevate your presentation skills and leave a lasting impression!
Transforming School Store Vending
Discover how Camdenton High School turned a single Spirit Box vending machine into a top-ranked, student-led business program! With the help of a CTE-aligned curriculum and hands-on, project-based learning, their DECA team achieved incredible milestones, including earning DECA’s prestigious SBE Gold Certification.
Hear directly from Business & Marketing Teacher Karen Fehrmann and her students about their journey from a small school store to managing three high-performing vending machines. From funding DECA trips to creating leadership opportunities, their story showcases the power of Spirit Box in transforming education.
Rio Rancho’s Vending takeover
Rio Rancho Introduction
Rio Rancho High School in New Mexico averages $50,987 in sales each year with their school store vending program. They’re highest sales in 2022-23 was $111,572. They’ve been the leader in sales since 2019 grossing $280,428 total from 2019 to January 2025. We felt it was time they shared their fundraising secrets!
Located in New Mexico with around 2,200 students, Rio Rancho’s Spirit Box vending activities are managed by the DECA Marketing Class and they’re killin’ it!
My Spirit Box is Not Accepting Cash!
What do you do when your Spirit Box starts refusing to take cash? It's frustrating for sure, but there are a few simple troubleshooting steps you can try yourself. These fixes should get your vending machine up and running again in no time.
How to Create a Personal Vision
We describe a personal vision as a description of success at a particular point in time in the future, described with enough richness and detail it becomes emotionally engaging and meaningful.
Questions to Assess Your Marketing Plan
How do you assess your school store marketing plan? There are many ways you could approach it, but the basic elements include: determining what audiences you’re reaching, assessing the competition, clarifying your positioning and message, and assessing the marketing channels and resources. You can then use this information to create promotions and goals for the upcoming year.
Countdown to the Holiday Season: Your Complete Holiday Sales Checklist
Your school might already be a-buzz about the holidays. The holidays are a special time not only to gather with family and friends but can also be a great sales period for your Spirit Box team! With some time and intention, you can make sure your Spirit Box is good to go when students are on the search for timely and helpful products to finish out the calendar year.