With Spirit Week beginning on Oct. 23, many students are looking to purchase spirit wear in advance. The Paly Spirit Store, which — according to Paly senior Katie Laursen — is partnered with Rise Together Education, provides students a means of purchasing spirit gear and supporting a good cause.

All proceeds will go to Rise Together Education, or RTE, which says it is a non-profit organization whose mission is “Improving college graduation rates by providing mentoring and financial resources to low income Palo Alto High School students and graduates.”

Laursen said she came up with the idea of creating a student store combined with Rise Together Education during her sophomore year.

“I thought about how much Paly students love Spirit Week and I wanted to somehow incorporate Rise Together Education into that,” Laursen said. “So many of us take for granted the opportunity to get a college education that we don’t realize the difficulties that can come with it for others.”

According to Laursen, many students go shopping every year for Spirit Week, but by purchasing through the Spirit Store, they can obtain the same items while supporting some of their fellow classmates.

The Spirit Store provides a variety of products for students who want clothing or accessories for Spirit Week. Each class has its own online store: freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. 

“This is such a great way for students to support the cause because they get some of what they need for spirit week and since the items are donated, all of the proceeds go to RTE,” Laursen said. “If everyone at Paly bought just $5 worth of items, we would raise $10,000 in scholarship money.”

The Spirit Store will close on Monday, Oct.15.