In the center of the Archer School for Girls lies the Arrow, Archer’s student store, a hub where two of Archer’s passions unite— food and entrepreneurship.  

According  to Jane Davis, faculty adviser for the Arrow, the student store has been a part of the Archer community for at least fifteen years. It’s operated primarily by students, with help from Davis. The student store workers take shifts in the store at X-Block, lunch and after school. The executive board works on scheduling, merchandising and operating.

The store features a variety of snacks such as chips, pretzels, ice-cream and juice.

Though many of the foods featured at the store provide a treat for the students during the week, some students are yearning for healthier options.

According to a research team at University of Alberta School of Public Health, salty and sweet snacks negatively impact the academic performances of students. Students who generally eat more fruits, vegetables and grains have higher average scores on academic assessments than students who eat copious amounts of saturated food.

“[The Arrow] is making a big push for more sustainable and healthy food,” Aggie Alperovich ’17, president of the Arrow council board, said.  

Members of the Arrow are working with the student members of the Archer Council of Sustainability [ACS] to bring fruits and vegetables to the store for students and faculty.  

The ACS is working on making Archer a Green Ribbon school. The Green Ribbon grant inspires schools to reduce environmental impacts and costs as well as improve the health and wellness of the students and faculty.   

Fitness and Wellness teacher Ali Hirshan, a faculty advisor for the sustainability council, is also working on making Archer a part of the Healthy Schools Program. One of the requirements to participate in the Healthy Schools Program is that snacks must be under a certain amount of calories. 

“We are trying to work with [the Arrow] and filter through some of the snacks [to make them healthier] and maybe replace them with another version,” Hirshan said.

Hirshan also spoke about purchasing less bottles and more glass containers.

“Buying a bigger batch of glass bottles which you can reuse is less environmentally threatening,” Hirshan said.  

She continued, “[We] are going to see if the Archer Council of Sustainability can get more connected to the community and the Arrow is such a good place to start. “