FC is currently in the process of making a spirit wear website. The site will allow teachers, parents and students to purchase clothing that displays the school colors and logo. The launch date for this website is Nov. 13.
The site will offer t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, sweatpants, polo shirts, button-down shirts, jackets, hats and other accessories. Though the pricing has not been finalized, there will definitely be a variety of items offered in both economical and high-end price ranges.
FC parents Hannah Serimian and Dawn Hinton have been working with Kristina Price from Priceless Kreations to create the website. Serimian, parent of junior Emily Shakeshaft and first-grader William Serimian, wanted to get involved with the website because she knew that many FC parents have expressed the desire to support the school through spirit wear.
“I want FC to have great spirit wear, and my husband and I want to be able to show our support and wear spirit wear,” Serimian said. “I’ve also worked with the parent groups at FC for many years now and have heard parents express the desire to have an accessible and convenient spirit wear program. The idea of a website just makes sense for our community. It’s progressive, convenient and very cool!”
Hinton, parent of fifth grader Wes, third-grader Max and kindergartener Lyla Hinton, wanted to participate in this project because she knows what it’s like to attend a school that doesn’t offer spirit wear.
“I knew there was a need, which is why I wanted to help,” Hinton said. “I’m not only a mom but also alumni. I went to FC from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and as a student, I always wished we had better options for spirit wear.”
Serimian and Hinton started working on this project at the start of this school year, but the idea of a spirit wear website was first discussed last year with the School Community Council (SCC). The SCC works to promote unity and communication on the FC campuses and is comprised of a variety of FC teachers, parents and students. Hinton notes that she and Serimian worked together in finding a website designer and organizing the website.
“We’ve been working on this since the beginning of the school year,” Hinton said. “We got quotes from four different local screen printers as well as one non-local printer and chose Priceless Kreations do to the job for us. To make the deal sweeter, {Kristina Price} donated her time. She hopes to use our website as an example to other schools. There will be samples of items in all three offices starting Nov. 13, so that parents and students can figure out sizing and have a chance to feel the materials of the various options. We tried to offer a wide range of options and prices.”
Hinton explains that the website will only be available for a short amount of time each school year.
“If things go well we hope to offer the full website twice a year: once in the fall (this year we are late because we have been figuring it out) and once in the spring,” Hinton said. “Items appropriate for the season will be offered. One of the designs will be generated from the high school Student Leadership. Because I was in leadership when I was at FC, it makes me excited to get student input.”
Price explains how she created the FC spirit wear website while her husband helped make the actual spirit wear.
“I have worked with a great group of parent volunteers to develop a catalog of Spirit Wear items for the FC family,” Price said. “Dawn Hinton was referred to our business by a mutual friend and colleague who knew that Priceless Kreations offers not only screen printing and embroidery but custom web design services as well. While my husband Ernie handles all of the screen printing and embroidery production, I concentrate on the graphic and web design portion of our service offering. I have built the ShopFresnoChristian.com website using the latest and greatest in eCommerce and shopping cart technologies.”
Price notes that the FC community should look forward to an easily accessible site with a large variety of options for spirit wear including variety of colors, styles and decorating methods, like screen printing, embroidery or rhinestones.
“People should expect a secure, user-friendly online shopping experience,” Price said. “Students, parents and teachers can expect a larger selection of products than has ever been offered before. Online ordering makes it possible to offer a much larger selection of items than is typically available, because there isn?t a need for the school to estimate the quantity of items needed or to pre-purchase and hold on to spirit wear inventory. Additionally, shoppers will have the option of picking up their orders on a specific distribution date at the school campus or opting to have the order shipped directly to their house.”
Serimian hopes that the new website will help more people outside of FC learn about the school, but they are also planning to support its launch through social media.
“I hope that we have a spirit wear program that helps support our efforts to brand Fresno Christian Schools,” Serimian said. “I hope the program is user-friendly and accessible. We’ll have a link on the FC homepage that will link directly to the new spirit wear website, but we’re also supporting this launch through communication on Facebook, Twitter, emails, announcements, hallway signs and Student Leadership.”
Hinton also wants the new website to help FC become more well-known in the Fresno community.
“I hope that the website will help promote our school,” Hinton said. “We hope to better brand our school so we can increase enrollment, which will in turn lower the gap. We hope people will not only wear their spirit wear at school but to games and around town. We hope to be a light in the community so that other people will notice kind words or acts of service and realize Jesus loves them.”
Senior Kaelene Presson looks forward to more opportunities to represent FC at sports games and away from school.
“I think it’s exciting, because I love showing how much I love my school,” Presson said. “I think it will pump up students to go to games, participate and show the athletes that we care. It’s good because we’re a small school, and we need to show off our spirit wear more often.”
Timothy Nyberg, ’16, is excited about the availability of spirit wear that has not been accessible at FC before.
“I think it’s a good idea to get a spirit wear website,” Nyberg said. “I think most people are online these days, so it would be easy to access. I actually don’t know where spirit wear is sold here. If I could buy it online, it might be cheaper, and I might like that better. I’ll be able to view all my options with a spirit wear website.”
For more news, read the Nov. 5 article, BRIEF: Music department to host dessert concert.
