On the Come-Up: A Griff Update
Photo Credit: Izzy Jang
As the graduating class of 2024 says goodbye to Hamber, their memories of the pre-pandemic Griff are leaving with them. The Griff, Hamber’s student-run store, has been mostly inactive for the past few years. However, the students behind the store are now working on rebuilding its reputation as one of the school’s most prominent operations.
An Instagram post on Mar. 1 announced that “The Griff is back!” However, they did not specify a date. A following video was posted on the Griff’s instagram and tiktok (@thegriffehss) on Mar. 4, featuring Griff member Amaia Chan (11) interviewing Isabella Prior (11) about her favourite memories at Hamber.
The interview did not introduce any products or dates, leaving a lot up to interpretation. “It left me wondering what The Griff is planning on selling, as I would love to buy some Hamber merch,” said Prior. “I’m excited to see what they have in store.”
The Griff is led by three Grade 12 students: Arianna Tham (12), head of operations, Ella Lum (12), head of marketing, and Nicholas Mann (12), head of finance. They are sponsored by Mr. M. Albrecht (Business Ed.) and Ms. S. Schoenfelder (Business Ed.) These five oversee a team of 11 students.
Both Lum and Tham expressed confidence that their dedication to the Griff would pay off. The three executives acknowledge the limited knowledge that the current student body has of the Griff, yet they are working towards organizing pop-up events for both the student body and administration. “I remember walking by the school store every single day and being like ‘oh, I want to buy something someday [...] I wonder how they run the store,’ ” said Tham.
Tham said the Griff’s essential objectives are to “create community, build education, and build a legacy and leave a lasting community.” The main goals this year however, are “to build a foundation. We feel like after the COVID pandemic, a lot of grade 8s to 12s don’t really know what the Griff is.”
Lum emphasized the significance of the Griff as an opportunity for students in one of the many business courses at Hamber to connect what they learn in a classroom to running a real business. Her favourite part of the Griff is “working together with everyone and really seeing our ideas played out […] and really knowing that it is a student-run store, and that students are running operations, marketing, and finance.” Like Tham, she discussed how many younger students don’t know much about the Griff. “In future years, I really hope it’s able to get back to how popular it was before,” she said.
In the last few years, new health guidelines have been implemented, which restricted what the Griff could and could not sell to the student body starting in 2021. As a result, students like Isabella Tai (11) never got the chance to purchase items from the Griff. Tai says that she “never had an experience to enjoy,” but wishes she did.
In order to sell items to the student body, the Griff must follow a multi-step operation process. They must designate the period during which the store will operate, discuss possible themes, and then ensure that they are following the BC Health and Food Guidelines.
According to the BC Health and Food Guidelines, all schools in the British Columbia district “must define the nutrition standard that schools are required to apply to all food and beverages sold to students.” Guidelines like designated sugar levels can be difficult for the Griff to deal with, as many snacks that students enjoy do not meet the regulations. All goods also have to be pre-packaged and sealed.
Olivia Lindsay (11) would like to see stationery as well as food such as cake, sweets, or pretzel bites that could “give students a boost of energy.” She noted that “it’s still pretty cheap compared to outside of school, but maybe they could decrease the prices a little bit.” Tai would buy goldfish crackers from the store. Emily Vuong (12) would love to see Eric Hamber merchandise or memorabilia at the store. “I would completely empty out my wallet to buy those,” she said.
Petar Blagojević (12) would like to see essentials like utensils being sold at little to no cost. “I’d buy utensils, because I forget to bring them,” he explained. Blagojević suggested some novel ideas. “I wish that the Griff would sell spoons and forks that are also edible. They don’t break down when you eat something with them. You can eat soup with these edible spoons, it’s pretty cool.”
Blagojević added that, “If [the Griff] could count as volunteer hours, it could be kinda cool and get a lot of people working there.” Tham responded that “unfortunately, the Griff team is selected on an interview basis, but everyone is welcome at the beginning of the year to apply.”
Tham mentioned that meeting the consumer demands of Hamber students while working around challenges can be quite difficult. However, events such as The Last Dance, hosted by Student Council, gave them a good idea of what the majority of students want.
Both Lum and Tham mentioned that for their final years as members of the Griff, they aim to build a solid foundation in order to leave a lasting legacy for future Hamberites to enjoy.