A trio of high school students stole the show Tuesday night at the rescheduled monthly meeting of the Adair County School Board.
Juniors J.B. Piatt and Natalie Gilbert, along with senior Mattie Willis, created the business concept “Jack Rambles” — a men’s clothing line — which won an award last month at the regional leadership conference at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
Jack Rambles is aimed at males ages 13-40 and promotes an active, outdoor, southern lifestyle. Fittingly, the brand’s logo features deer antlers.
“We had 10 students place in the top three out of over 1,000 students,” said business pathway teacher and FBLA sponsor J.R. Thompson. “They’ve been extended an invitation to go to Louisville April 11-13 at the Galt House, and we believe that they have the talent and the skills and ability to bring home a state championship and be invited to nationals, which will be held in Chicago.”
The students gave PowerPoint presentation on their brand, concepts, and tactics.
“We just tried to create a brand identity for a specific target market for this region,” Gilbert explained.
Concepts the group discussed included branding, marketing, store layout, target demographics, style and design, the brand website, and product quality. Products included watches, T-shirts, and hats.
Piatt said that the group utilized psychoanalytic concepts to make the store and products marketable.
“We implemented this concept into our building because it means more sales, more profit,” Piatt said.
While Jack Rambles is only a concept at this point, Thompson said after the meeting that the students might try to turn the idea into an actual money-maker.
“We’re looking into that, looking into potentially partnering with some suppliers and that kind of thing, so they could actually sell the products they came up with,” Thompson said.
In other business at Monday’s meeting:
• The board approved a revised calendar for the remainder of the school year, presented by Director of Pupil Personnel Robbie Harmon. The new calendar has May 24 as the last day of school for students and May 25 as closing day for staff.
• The board approved the creation of a second instructional supervisor position. With current Academic Dean Phyllis Curry set to retire at the end of the school year, Supt. Dr. Pam Stephens recommended that she be replaced with two hires — one to serve the primary and elementary schools, and another to work with the middle and high schools. Stephens recommendation was approved unanimously.
• Stephens updated the board on the current Covid situation in the district. She reported one student and one staff member were currently positive, the lowest numbers the district has seen since very early in the pandemic.
All board members were present for the meeting.
