By Tyler Dahlgren

The small retail space near the head of the lobby of CHI Health Schuyler has sat mostly vacant for a handful of years, its bare shelves collecting not much more than sunlight and dust.

To most passersby, the room looked exactly like what it was. Grant Torpin, however, saw more than a vacant hospital gift shop. The Schuyler Central High School business teacher saw an opportunity.

On a late Friday afternoon in early February that silence broke, replaced by the hum of a crowded lobby, the rhythmic "thwack" of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the energetic chatter of high school entrepreneurs thrilled to share the transformed space with the community. 

Welcome to The Heart of Schuyler Gift Shop. It isn't just a place to buy a handcrafted trinket or a jar of locally-made salsa, although one surely can. The small store is a living laboratory for student entrepreneurship, and a bridge between the city’s youth and its healthcare cornerstone.

Torpin is no stranger to big ideas. The former principal and longtime business educator prefers them, actually. Torpin had seen a limited version of this model a decade ago in Omaha. That single student-run display in a hospital left an impression. When he arrived in Schuyler and saw a hospital gift shop that hadn’t recovered from the blow of the pandemic, he got one of those big ideas.

"I thought if they could do a display, why couldn’t we do a whole store?" Torpin said. "That room was a completely blank space less than a month ago. Not a single thing on the shelves. It was blank."

With the overwhelming support of his principal and the hospital administration, Torpin turned the project over to his students. This wasn't going to be a simulation or a textbook exercise. It was going to be the real deal in a "go, go, go" environment, and Torpin’s students held the keys.

"I told them when they signed up for this class, ‘We’re going to do something different," Torpin relayed to the students. "It’s not a class. It’s a business at this point."

Students happily assumed the heavy lifting. That didn’t surprise Torpin. He knew these students were go-getters. Still, the journey from an empty room to a grand opening was a crash course in market research and logistics.

To find their footing and get the ball rolling, the students didn't just guess what people wanted. No, they became full-on market researchers. They traveled to Omaha and Fremont, touring established hospital gift shops and interviewing staff to understand what sells in this type of clinical environment.

"We brainstormed, and then we visited a lot of shops," said sophomore Gabriela Quezada. "We saw what they sold and we asked them questions. Being able to have this experience will help us if we want to open our own business. We’ll be able to know what the steps are to get there."

For senior Joarcy Sanchez, the project offered a rare level of autonomy, a chance for he and his peers to stake claim in something that could be around for years to come.

"We had control of what we were going to sell and what we weren't going to sell," he explained. "We started with nothing, and now we have something really nice. It’s a final product we all can be proud of."

The inventory they curated reflects the "Heart" in the shop's name. By sourcing items locally and reaching out to community entrepreneurs, the students ensured that every dollar spent in the shop circulates back into the Schuyler economy. The shelves now boast local crafts, snacks, and "Schuyler" branded apparel.

On opening night customers perused the retail as “oohs” and “aahs” spilled into the hospital lobby, where a large group gathered over treats (baked by students) and lemonade.

“We’re really proud of the kids,” said assistant principal Josh McPhillips. “They’ve really taken ownership of it. They’re just running with it and it’s really exciting to see them take the lessons they’re learning in school and applying them to the real world.”

The partnership between Schuyler Community Schools and CHI Health is more than a real estate agreement. In a town like Schuyler, where the community is described by leaders as tight-knit and genuine, intersections like this only bolster that rich culture.

Claudia Lanuza, Executive Assistant and Foundation Coordinator at CHI Health Schuyler, sees the shop’s reopening as a win for staff and patients alike.

"We have patients whose loved ones want to give them a little gift," Lanuza said. "And for our employees, they’re working all day and don't have the chance to stop at other places. It’s a one-stop shop for them."

Lanuza notes that the students brought more than inventory to the hospital. They brought a "renovation and fresh ideas" that the space desperately needed. 

"They’ve been great,” Lanuza said. “They come in here, they’re energized and they’re ready. They just go for it, and that’s exactly what we needed. Somebody who’s willing to come and just get it done without hesitating.

For the school district, the gift shop is another flagship for the focus they’ve placed on work-based learning. Dr. Bret Schroder, superintendent of Schuyler Community Schools, views the project as a blueprint for the future.

"This is hugely rewarding," Dr. Schroder said with a big smile. "We have students taking an opportunity with an empty space and creating an economic partnership that didn't necessarily exist before. I’m excited to see what we as a school district learn from this experience. How can we take those lessons and create more partnerships? That’s fun to think about, and it’s going to be fun to explore."

The Heart of Schuyler Gift Shop is a full-fledged business, and it will have to be staffed as such.

While entrepreneurship students manned the registers after the ribbon cutting ceremony, Torpin shared that the shop will eventually be a training ground for students in the school’s "21-plus" program. An experience such as that can be monumental, specifically for a student who is preparing to graduate and needs real-world experience.

At Schuyler Central, student opportunity has rocketed to the forefront.

“Our CT department is exploding right now with interest, and we have sixty members who joined our new FBLA club just this year,” said Torpin. “Our classes are full, and this is just one more opportunity for them to do something real.”

The impact of the project has not gone unnoticed by the town's economic leaders. Audra Jedlicka, Director of the Schuyler Chamber of Commerce, has visited the classroom and walked away impressed. She was in attendance for the ribbon cutting ceremony, and the gift shop’s quick transformation wasn’t too much of a surprise, given the character of the students behind it. 

"I’ve spoken to their classes before, and they were throwing questions at me that were already above level," Jedlicka said. "Having this experience, knowing maybe somebody’s going to get the bug and come back and open something permanent on their own, that is really exciting."

As the gift shop filled with its first wave of hustle, bustle, and long lines, the sense of pride among the students was palpable. This store is part of their legacy now, a mark they’ll proudly leave on a community that always supports them.

"That’s really cool to think about," Sanchez said. "I hope it really does inspire the community to start up similar things in the future."

Dr. David Cunningham, SCHS principal, points to the students as the defining factor of the project’s success.

“We have great kids,” Cunningham continued. “I love going to work every day and seeing the kids and the exciting things they do every day. It’s fun to be a part of it. There’s a lot of pride in the school system and throughout the entire community, and it’s just great being along for the ride.”

Dr. Schroder was quick to echo Cunningham’s sentiment.

"I wish the average person that has not been to Schuyler recently could come and see the kind of kids we have, visit our schools and see the respect they have for each other and for their teachers and their community." added Schroder. "What we have here in Schuyler is what a lot of communities wish they had. We’re lucky to have amazing kids to work with."

Among the many attendees was Schuyler Community Schools Board of Education president Richard Brabec, who pointed to the kind of family engagement playing out in front of him, something the district is continuously striving for.

“This is a wonderful thing,” Brabec said. “Anytime you can engage students in activities like this where entrepreneurship is involved, that’s a great thing. These types of projects help bring the whole community together.”

The Heart of Schuyler Gift Shop came together in an extraordinarily short amount of time. On opening night, the group finally exhaled. They soaked it all in. 

Torpin exuded visible gratitude and pride as he spoke to the crowd before taking a celebratory snip with an oversized pair of scissors. 

"Regardless of how tonight goes, you made it," Torpin told his students. "You should be so proud."

The sun is setting on Schuyler now, but the gift shop still glows bright. 

Around here, an empty room is never just an empty room, and big ideas can come from anywhere.