Clancy’s Parent Council hosted its 31st annual Holiday Shoppe from Tuesday, Dec. 13 to Thursday, Dec. 15 in the Clancy School computer lab, allowing students the opportunity to purchase unique gifts before leaving for Christmas break.
Caitlin Senechal, a member of the Clancy Parent Council, headed up the shoppe this year with the assistance of fellow parent council member Michelle Popp.
The in-school shopping program features a custom selection of items handpicked by Senechal and Popp for Clancy kids and their families.
“There isn’t a run to Walmart that doesn’t involve the clearance [aisle],” Senechal said. “We shop all year to find good deals.”
Not only does the holiday shoppe provide students with a fun and convenient shopping opportunity, but it gives students who might not otherwise have the ability to purchase Christmas presents the chance to do so.
These students receive “Santa bucks” to spend in the store, where Senechal says most gifts are priced at less than $5.
Despite countless hours of work going into the shoppe, the council doesn’t intend to make money off items sold; instead, they use it as an educational experience.
“It teaches the children the joy of giving,” Senechal said. “I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many hours we put into this but it is a blast.”
The Clancy School Holiday Shoppe made its debut in 1991 under the direction of Shannon Gabbert, Mickey Senechal, Joann Karku and Sandy Zitnik-Fullerton.
At that point, Caitlin Senechal said, the group would get together to make homemade gifts to sell in the Old Gym behind the Old Red Schoolhouse. When the Clancy School was finished in 1993, the shoppe transitioned into the new building.
Popp began leading the holiday shoppe in 2011 after shadowing Cami Robson, Clancy School Secretary and Jefferson High School Board Chair. In 2014, Caitlin Senechal joined “and never looked back.”
Now that Popp and Caitlin Senechal’s children at Clancy School are in the fifth grade, they each only have three years left on the council. At that point, they will need to “pass the wand to someone else,” Caitlin Senechal said.
But before their time is up, the duo hopes to return the shoppe to its original space of the Old Gym to “keep the tradition alive.”
