Monday, November 29, 2021, 11:39AM | 34° Obituaries PGe PG Store Archives Classifieds MENU SUBSCRIBE LOGIN REGISTER Home News Local Sports Opinion A&E Life Business Contact Us NEWSLETTERS ADVERTISEMENT 15 MORE Elf grade: Baldwin High School's Innovation Shop is busy making ornaments and other holiday items holiday goods KAREN KADILAK NOV 28, 2021 6:00 AM A store at Baldwin High School that sells items made in a class that pairs students with and without intellectual and physical disabilities is gearing up for a busy holiday season. The Innovation Shop will offer ornaments, a gingerbread man kit, holiday-themed earrings, a tic-tac-toe game, dinosaur puzzles and a desktop disc toss game, besides its usual cellphone stands and Pittsburgh-themed keychains. All products are made in-house with a 3D laser printer. Items sell for $5 to $20. The store opened in October and brought in about $300 in profits from Halloween sales and its first batch of phone holders and keychains. “We began testing product ideas and designs back in early September when school started,” transition coordinator Eric Jankoski said. “While our reject bin is a little fuller than we would like, it was definitely a fun and interesting part of the process by testing out things and working through different ideas until we found what we liked most.” Modeled on the school’s student-run Baldwin Bean coffee shop, the shop partners students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities “to not only teach employability skills in a real-world setting but to also promote inclusion.” The shop received a grant from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, which works with the Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, to provide instructional strategies. It received a sponsorship from EdCorps, which works with classrooms using entrepreneurship for real world learning. Hillary Mangis, an educational consultant with PaTTAN Pittsburgh who was the grant site point of contact for Baldwin, believes the shop is the only one of its kind in southwestern Pennsylvania. “I bought a pair of Halloween earrings, one for myself and one for my daughter,” said Ms. Mangis, 41, of Collier. “The quality was excellent, and the packaging was professional.” Mr. Jankoski, 39, of Scott said e-commerce giant Amazon inspired him. “I began thinking about how things coming from abroad have shipping delays all over the place,” he said. “There definitely would be a market for homemade products. “I also thought about how Amazon took off at the same time. Looking at those two things, I thought about how I could prepare my students to potentially take part in jobs that would utilize those skills and make them more marketable.” The class has about 20 students who work in design, cutting, assembly, shipping, sales, social media and advertising. Junior Ava Bell, 16, who lives in Baldwin, said she has so much fun, she forgets she is working. “I enjoy working and spending time with everyone involved,” she said. “I love learning new things.” Mark Jones said his son Alex, a 19-year-old super senior from Whitehall, likes the shop more than his regular classes. Baldwin principal Shaun Tomaszewski said the shop not only gives students a creative outlet, but also it brings students together who might not otherwise interact. A fan of e-commerce company Etsy, he said the shop reminds him of an Etsy storefront. Student services director Marissa Gallagher said the shop shows how inclusive the district is. Mr. Jankoski, who is in his 13th year at Baldwin, said the shop will take a breather after Christmas before tackling Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. “We will also brainstorm some new product ideas to try out and add to our arsenal,” he said. For more information go to edcorps.org/shop/innovation-shop. The Innovation Shop will also be part of the Handmade Arcade holiday market, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Karen Kadilak is a freelance writer: goodness@post-gazette.com. First Published November 28, 2021, 6:00am AdChoices Sponsored SHOW COMMENTS (1) MUST READ LIFE Mayor is 'the best thing that every happened to Bridgeville' NEWS Pa. congressman cosponsoring ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ NEWS PG EXCLUSIVE | Accused money launderers moved millions into steel industry, while lawmakers helped them fend off U.S. regulators TRENDING 1 SPORTS Joe Starkey: If this doesn’t warm up Mike Tomlin’s seat, what will? 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