Welcome to Puma nation, home of the fighting Pumas, and the popular Puma Den. The Puma Den is a great way for students to gain hands on experience working in a store. Marketing teacher Rob Lange is in charge of the Puma Den, he is also the teacher in charge of DECA who runs the store. The Puma Den is home to low price snacks, like Arizona tea, and a variety of chips, and clothing items, from class shirts, to letterman jackets. Lange states that “ we are talking with fashion to have them take some of the spirit wear that we have and bling it up”.

The Puma Den offers school clothing, to try to spread school spirit through the halls. Student Kayla Fortney shares that she wishes the Puma Den would “ sell more tank tops, even though they are not allowed at school, we can still wear them to games”.

Fortney also share that “ it’s pretty cool that you can buy different school things that you would actually want to wear, and it not just be a uniform, I also like how it is right on campus and you don’t have to go order it to get school represented clothes”.

Vice President Kendall Penrod, shares some struggles that the Puma Den faces, “ If I could change one thing about the den would be the location, it’s kind of far from lunch and a lot of people don’t want to walk that far”.

President of DECA, Maggie Bauman shares that “ if I could change the location it would be to the other end of the F building, instead of where we are now, under a stair case by the gym, and we would be closer to the cafeteria and we have lower prices than the cafeteria so I feel like more students would come if they didn’t have to walk far”.

Another reason people do not go to the Puma Den, is because they do not have cash. Lang gives us some insight on if they take card, “ we have the paperwork to do it, it just depends on if the machine is working”.

As students walk in and out of the door, the people behind the counter recognize faces and build friendships. Bauman shares that “ I love to walk across campus and look at people and be like, hey you’re the Fanta guy! I have been able to make a lot of friends, and just being able to interact with people is a great experience”,

Entering high school can be a scary time for students, and the Puma Den really helps people see smiling faces everyday and make new connections that can last a lifetime.