To increase school spirit at Manhattan High, the school went live with their new online apparel store a little over two weeks ago on Oct. 16.

“There was an initial interest because it appeared that [a website] would provide ease of customer service and it took the money handling out … for us to manage or handle,” principal Michael Dorst said.

Earlier this year, administration at MHS decided to team up with the company Boost Team Spirit (BSN) to provide the community with a major, customizable outlet for sports and activities apparel as well as an easy means to obtain said items. Activities director Larry Myers and his admin team helped orchestrate the first efforts toward this goal.

Other means for distributing and purchasing team and club apparel will not be affected by this new website. Sports and activities may continue to sell merchandise or buy team attire through other means. In addition, onsite spirit stores will continue at events such as student-led conferences.

“This is not stopping or putting a halt to any of those avenues to buy apparel,” Dorst said. “Manhattan High did not have an official process of our community being able to purchase or customize, where we would collect money and say we’re going to consistently do this.”

Moreover, 10 percent of the proceeds from sales through the website will be put back into the school. This model for sales also provides MHS resources to recognize students.

“We’ll be able to … reward students for certain activities [and show our] appreciation,” Dorst said. “We can use [the website] to give back to our student population and we will provide attire to them.”

The website has received many positive and constructive comments from parents, students and community members alike. The results from sales will be available after one month.

“We’re pleased at the feedback that we have received and the information back from our community,” Dorst said. “They appreciated the ability to purchase an item that was easy, they felt it was affordable and they especially liked the ability to customize it with the sport or activity that their kid was involved in.”

With a new website, teams and clubs are encouraged to provide feedback for their group to be recognized adequately.

“We’re always interested [in] hearing from our students if they would like to see something added or something different,” Dorst said. “We had people in our student community and parent community that asked to see their group represented and I believe that BSN was prepared to make those accommodations and changes and additions.”